■ 


BX  9418  .V65  1909 
Vollmer,  Philip,  1860-1929 
John  Calvin,  theologian, 
preacher,  educator. 


^ 


Calvin  injHis  Study; 


,x. 


John  Calvin 


Theologian,  Preacher,  Educator,  Statesman 


Presented  to  the  Reformed  Churches  hold  in/  the 

Presbyterian  System,  on  the  400th    /<^^^   ^^   '^'^t'CPr 
Anniversary  of  the  Reformer  5  Birthf 

[*     JUL  20  1809 

REV.  PHILIP  VOLLMER,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Projcssor  in  the  Central  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
Dayton,   Ohio 

WITH    CONTRIBUTIONS    FROM 

Rev.  J.  I.  Good,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,LL.D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE    HEIDELBERG    PRESS 

Fifteenth  and  Race  Streets 


CoPYKKiHT    BY 

The  Heidelberg  Press 
1909 


PREFACE 


The  following  pages  present  to  the  reader  a  labor  of 
love.  Calvin  studies,  pursued  by  the  author  for  many 
years,  have  created  in  his  mind  an  ever  deepening  con- 
viction that  the  Genevan  Reformer  was  the  instrument 
specially  raised  up  by  God  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
and  preserving  to  the  world  the  fruits  of  the  reforma- 
tion, at  a  time  when  these  were  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  frittered  away  by  incompetent  leaders.  The  great 
genius  of  "Wittenberg  had  died  in  1546,  with  gloomy 
forebodings  as  to  the  future  of  the  work  which  he  and 
Zwingli  had  so  successfully  inaugurated.  His  prophetic 
vision  did  not  deceive  him.  Soon  after  his  death,  the 
storm  of  opposition  became  so  virulent  as  to  threaten  the 
very  existence  of  Protestantism.  A  heart-rending  wail 
went  up  to  heaven:  "Lord,  save  us;  we  perish!"  Lead- 
ers in  one  compartment  of  Protestantism,  in  their  anx- 
iety to  save  at  least  a  few  treasures,  went  so  far  as  to 
counsel  the  lightening  of  the  vessel  by  throwing  over- 
board the  very  principles  which  were  essential  to  the 
life  of  the  reformation,  when  they  consented  to  compro- 
mises of  the  most  dangerous  character,  offered  by  pope, 
emperor  and  princes.  It  was  at  this  critical  juncture 
that  the  figure  of  tin;  Genevan  Reformer  appeared  in 
ever  increasing  proportions  on  the  horizon  of  the 
Church,  as  the  international  leader  and  the  organizer  of 
the  Reformed  forces.  In  the  name  of  the  CMptain  of  our 
Salvation,  he  stayed  the  demoralization.  "Peace,  be 
still!"  he  cried  aloud,  "Rather  death  than  surrender," 
was  the  parole  he  gave  out.  Instinctively  the  lesser  lead- 
ers of  the  Reformed  churches  in  Great  Britain  and  on 

V 


VI  PREFACE. 

the  continent  rallied  about  this  rocky  character,  and  soon 
the  ship  returned  to  its  true  course.  Thus,  by  keeping 
afloat  and  putting  in  first  class  order  his  own  compart- 
ment of  the  vessel,  Calvin  indirectly  saved  the  whole 
craft  of  Protestantism.  Believing  this  to  be  Calvin's 
place  in  history,  we  cannot  help  loving  and  revering  him. 

The  outward  occasion  for  the  publication  of  this 
book,  is  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  Calvin's 
birth,  on  July  10,  1909.  Reliable  information  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  indicate  that  the  Calvin  Memorial 
Day  will  be  very  generally  observed,  even  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  churches.  This 
is  as  it  should  be;  for  there  are  features  in  Calvin's 
character  and  work  which  deserve  special  emphasis  at 
this  time.  A  revival  of  certain  aspects  of  Calvinism 
would  surely  redound  to  the  betterment  of  our  political, 
social,  ethical,  religious  and  educational  conditions.  Es- 
pecially our  young  people  should  become  more  familiar 
with  so  great  and  good  a  man,  since  he  is  one  of  those 
personalities  of  whom  Longfellow,  in  his  Psalm  of  Life, 
says : 

■     Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. 

The  book  is  designed  for  popular  use;  but  we  trust 
that  the  student  of  the  deeper  aspects  of  Calvin's  char- 
acter and  work  will  also  find  in  it  food  for  thinking  and 
helpful  suggestions,  especially  in  the  chapters  of  the 
second  part  of  the  book. 

We  are  greatly  indebted  to  our  honored  colleague  and 
friend,  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  I.  Good,  D.D.,  for  his  contribu- 
tion on  Calvin's  Influence  in  Switzerland  and  Germany, 
a  subject  on  which  he  is  a  specialist  and  recognized  au- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

tliority  and  for  the  illustrations  in  the  book.  Our 
thanks  arc  also  due  to  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Eoberts,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  for  the  use  of  his  spirited  treatise  on  Calvin's 
Influence  in  America. 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  says,  "Calvin  improves  upon  ac- 
quaintance." May  this  little  book  contribute  a  small 
share  to  a  better  appreciation  of  this  great  leader  of  the 
reformation. 

Philip  Vollmer. 

Dayton,  0.,  March  18,  1909. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

I.     Early  Life  and  Education,  1 

II.     A  Student  at  Three  Universities, 6    -^ 

III.  Conversion  and  First  Labors,  11 

IV.  A  Fugitive  in  His  Own  Country,   14 

V.     A  Pilgrim  in  Foreign  Lands, 19 

VI.     First  Ministry  in  Geneva, 25 

VII.     Struggle  with  the  Libertines  and  Banishment,  .  31 

VIII.     Ministry  at  Strasburg,   37 

IX.     Eelations  with  the  German  Reformers,   42 

X.     Calvin 's  Marriage  and  Home  Life,   45 

XL     Eecall  to  Geneva  and  Reconstruction  Work,  ...  50 

XII.     Renewed  Conflict  with  the  Libertines,   57 

XIII.  Controversy  with  Servetus, 66 

XIV.  Pastoral  Work  at  Home  and  Abroad,   .  r: 71 

XV.     Founding  of  the  Genevan  University,   74  ''^ 

XVI.     Last  Months  and  Death,    78 

XVII.     Personal  Character  of-  Calvin,    83 

XVIIL     Tributes  to  the  Memory  of  Calvin, 100 

XIX.^-<laivIn  the  Theologian,    .a 114 

XX.     ualvin  the  Treacher  and  Pastor,   .■" 123 

XXI.     Calvin   the   Educator,    131  -^ 

XXII.     Calvin  the  Statesman,    136 

XXIII.  Calvin  the  Promoter  of  Church  Union,   142 

XXIV.  What  is  Calvinism?    77^. 149 

XXV.     Calvinism  and  Civil  Liberty, 159 

XXVI.     Calvinism  and   Morality,   167 

ix 


X  CONTENTS. 

XXVII.     Calvinism  and  Modern   Thought,    175 

XXVIII.     Calvin 's  Influence  on  Great  Britain  and  Holland,  189 
XXIX.     Calvin's  Influence  on  Switzerland  and  Germany, 

by  Rev.  J.  I.  Good,  D.D.,  194 

XXX.     Calvin's  Influence  on  America,  by  Rev.  Wm.  H. 

Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,    202 

XXXI.     statistics  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  216 


JOHN  CALVIN 

CHAPTER    I. 

EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION. 

John  Calvin  was  born  at  Noyon,  in_  Picardy,  France, 
on  the  10th  of  July,  1509,  and  was  baptized  in  the 
churcli  of  St.  Godabertes  in  the  course  of  that  month. 
He  was  the  second  of  a  family  of  six, — four  sons  and 
two  daughters.  His  father,  Gerard  Chauvin,  was  a 
cooper,  Procurator-Fiscal  for  the  county  and  Secretary 
to  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese — functions  more  honorable 
than  lucrative.  Calvin's  mother  was  distinguished  for 
her  beauty  and  piety.  From  his  father,  the  reformer 
may  have  inherited  his  methodical  habits,  the  gravity 
of  disposition,  tinctured  with  censoriousness,  which  led 
even  his  schoolmates  to  fasten  on  him  the  nickname  of 
the ' '  Accusative. ' '  From  the  mother  he  probably  derived 
his  nervous  organization,  his  fine  features,  his  native 
courtesy  of  manner,  and  that  constitutional  shyness  and 
timidity  which  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  never  wholly 
overcame.  The  pictures  of  his  countenance  in  later  life 
still  show  noble  and  delicately  chiselled  features,  yet 
mingled  with  traces  indicating  toil  and  anxiety.  All 
of  his  portraits  represent  him  as  severe,  but  not  ill-na- 
tured, except  in  the  libels  upon  him  by  his  enemies.  He 
was  of  middle  stature,  somewhat  pale;  his  skin  was 
rather  brown  and  his  eyes  clear,  even  sparkling,  to  his 
death.  In  his  dress  he  was  very  neat,  but  without  orna- 
ment, as  became  his  great  simplicity.  The  home  in 
which  Calvin  was  born  was  pulled  down  by  his  enemies, 
and  an  inhabitftnt  of  the  city,  it  is  said,  who  rebuilt 


Calvin's  House,  Noyon 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  6 

it,  was  hung  in  front  of  the  door.  Many  superstitious 
stories  concerning  him,  born  of  hatred,  were  long  afloat 
among  his  enemies.  The  exact  minute  at  which  he  came 
into  the  world  was  ascertained;  the  conjunction  of  the 
planets  at  the  time  of  his  nativity  was  calculated  ;md 
his  horoscope  was  made  to  foretell  all  the  evils  which 
he  afterwards  would  bring  upon  the  Church.  Even  as  a 
child,  his  enemies  aver,  Calvin  gave  proof  of  the  hellish 
plans  which  he  was  born  to  execute.  In  a  public  pro- 
cession, they  say,  he  was  observed  to  bear  a  sword  in  his 
hand,  instead  of  a  cross  "a  presage,"  explains  the 
record,  ' '  that  he  would  one  day  prove  a  great  persecutor 
of  the  holy  cross  and  that  he  would  plant  his  false  re- 
ligion with  the  sword."  Following  the  custom  of  the 
learned  men  of  his  time,  the  reformer  in  later  life  trans- 
lated his  name  into  Latin,  then  the  universal  language  of 
all  educated  people,  and  signed  himself  "Calvinus." 

Calvin's  home  traming  was  rigorous^  His  father  did 
not  err  on  the  side  of  over-indulgence.  lie  kept  his 
children  in  great  awe,  and  testified  to  his  love  for  them 
by  restraining  their  vices  and  providing  for  their  fu- 
ture welfare,  rather  than  by  caresses  and  the  gratifica- 
tion of  their  youthful  propensities.  The  reformer  looked 
back  on  his  training  with  unmingled  gratitude.  "I 
had,"  he  says,  "a  somewhat  severe  father,  and  I  rejoice 
at  it,  as  the  source  of  any  virtues  which  I  may  possess." 
His  mother's  sincere  piety  showed  itself  according  to 
the  custom  of  that  age  in  a  scrupulous  and  devout  at- 
tention to  the  forms  of  worship  prescribed  by  the  church. 
Calvin,  later  in  his  life,  relates  how  he  w-as  once  taken 
by  his  mother  to  the  festival  of  St.  Anna  to  see  a 
relic  of  the  saint  preserved  in  the  Abbey  of  Ourscamp, 
near  Noyon,  and  that  he  remembers  kissing  "a  part  of 
the  body  of  St.  Anna,  the  mother  of  the  Virgin  IMary. " 


4  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Under  the  training  of  such  parents  Calvin  gave  early 
symptoms  of  religious  feeling.  Not  only  was  his  boy 
life  free  from  vice,  but  he  was  also  laiown  to  sharply 
reprove  his  youthful  companions  who  showed  evidences 
of  loose  morals. 

His  early  education  Calvin  received  in  three  different 
schools.  The  rudiments  of  knowledge  he  acquired  in  the 
College  des  Capettes.  But  through  the  respectable  con- 
nections of  his  father,  Calvin  himself  tells  us,  he  was, 
when  still  a  boy,  received  into  the  house  of  the  illustrious 
family  of  Genlis  de  Hangert,  which  held  for  two  gen- 
erations ohe  episcopal  see  of  Noyon,  and  there  he  was 
educated  with  one  of  the  sons  of  this  family.  At  another 
period  of  his  boyhood  we  find  the  reformer  pursuing 
his  studies  in  company  with  the  children  of  the  noble 
house  of  Mommor,  the  most  honorable  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, but  at  his  father's  expense.  With  lasting  gratitude 
he  ever  afterwards  remembered  this  family,  and  his 
first  book,  on  Seneca,  he  dedicated  to  a  Mommor,  the 
prelate  of  .St.  Moi,  with  whom  he  had  studied.  This  in- 
timacy with  great  families  had  important  results  for 
Calvin,  both  as  imparting  to  him  that  air  of  good 
breeding  and  refinement  which  never  afterwards  left 
him,  and  as  securing  for  him  the  advantages  of  a  thor- 
oughly liberal  education,  while  the  graven  ess  of  his  char- 
acter, and  the  vigilant  eye  of  his  parents  preserved  him 
from  those  vices  and  extravagant  ideas  which  are 
often  contracted  by  young  men  when  associating  with 
people  of  wealth  and  rank. 

Young  Calvin  was  destined  for  the  Church,  and  as  the 
expenses  to  a  father  of  six  children  with  a  meagre  in- 
come were  heavy,  his  father  procured  for  his  son,  then 
only  twelve  years  of  age,  a  chaplainship  in  the  cathedral 
of  Noyon,  a  step  which  necessitated  his  receiving  the 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION.  0 

tonsure,  that  is,  the  shaving  of  the  crown  of  his  head. 
In  1527,  when Jhe.jvas  only  eighteen,  xe^^spl  age,  he 
received  the  income  of  a  parish  priest.  Unlike  Luther 
and  Zwingli,  Calvin  Avas.  nev_er  ordained  a  priest,  yet 
lie  preached  many  times  to  the  people,  after  receiving 
tills  preferment.  This  transaction  startles  us,  but  in 
those  times  of  secularization  of  sacred  things  it  was  very 
common.  Pope  Leo  X,  Luther's  antagonist,  had  lieen 
made  Archbishop  of  Aix  at  five  years  of  age.  These  pre- 
ferments were  voluntarily  surrendered  by  Calvin  in 
1534,  soon  after  his  conversion  to  the  Reformec^  faitii. 


CHAPTER    II. 

A  STUDENT  AT  THREE  UNIVERSITIES. 

In  1523  a  destructive  pestilence  raged  in  Noyon,  and 
his  father  procured  for  his  promising  son  leave  of  ab- 
sence, the  more  so  as  no  functions  whatsoever  were  re- 
quired of  this  fourteen-year-old  chaplain.  In  company 
with  the  ]\Iommors,  Calvin  proceeded  to  Paris  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  in  the  university.  There  he  was 
entrusted  to  the  care  of  a  brother  of  his  father,  Richard 
Chauvin,  who  was  a  locksmith.  In  Paris  he  remained 
for  four  years,  perfecting  himself  in  Latin  and  familiar- 
izing himself  with  logic  and  philosophy.  He  entered  the 
college  -of-  La  Marche,  where  he  had  for  his  teacher  in 
his  humanistic  studies,  the  famous  Cordery.  To  him 
he  was  principally  indebted  for  his  classical  taste  and 
the  command  over  the  Latin  tongue  which  he  attained. 
Calvin  was  a  grateful  pupil.  Later  in  life,  in  dedicat- 
ing one  of  his  books  to  his  revered  teacher,  he  writes : 

''It  is  but  just  that  a  portion  of  my  labors  should 
be  inscribed  to  you,  under  whose  direction,  at  my  first 
entrance  on  the  course  of  study,  I  made  such  proficiency 
as  to  be  at  least  of  some  benefit  to  the  Church  of  God. 
Having  been  sent  by  my  father  to  Paris  when  a  boy, 
after  I  had  obtained  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  Latin  tongue,  I  providentially  obtained  you 
for  a  short  time  as  my  preceptor,  and  by  means  of  your 
natural  mode  of  teaching,  learned  to  prosecute  the  study 
in  a  better  way  than  that  to  which  I  had  been  accus- 
tomed. You  had  formerlj^  presided  over  the*  highest 
class,  but  finding  that  the  scjiolars  who  came  from  the 
other  masters,  trained  for  show,  were  not  grounded  in 

6 


A  STIDEN'T  AT  THREE  UNIVERSITIES.  7 

the  principles  of  the  language,  so  that  you  needed  to 
form  them  anew,  and  wearied  with  this  drudgery,  in 
the  year  that  I  entered  the  University,  you  chose  to 
imdcrtake  the  charge  of  the  fourth  class.  I  perceive 
the  singular  goodness  of  God  in  ordering  it  so  that  I 
should  have  the  advantage  of  such  tuition.  For  though 
I  did  not  enjoy  it  long,  your  instructions  were  of  such 
benefit  to  me,  that  I  willingly  ascribe  to  them  any  skill 
which  I  may  have  attained  in  this  department." 

Cordery  was  richly  rewarded  for  his  services,  if  it 
be  true  that  his  pupil  was  the  means  of  converting  him 
to  the  Protestant  faith.  Calvin  regularly  corresponded 
with  him,  and  procured  his  appointment  to  the  rector- 
ship of  the  grammar  school  of  Geneva,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  eighty-eight. 

Reluctantly  Calvin  left  La  IMarche  College  and  en- 
tered the  College  of  Jilontaign,  of  the  same  ^University 
in  Paris.  Here  a  Spaniard,  invincibly  attached  to 
Aristotle  and  through  him  to  Romanism,  became  his 
teacher  of  logic  and  scholastic  philosophy.  Although 
uncongenial  to  his  mind,  the  art  of  disputation  which  he 
acquired  here  became  useful  to  him  in  his  later  life, 
when  his  keen  intellect  proved  more  than  a  match  for 
his  opponents  by  using  their  own  favorite  weapons. 
His  spare  time  he  applied  to  reading  privately  the  best 
Roman  authors,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  while  his  fellow- 
students  spent  their  leisure  hours  in  frivolous  or  disso- 
lute amusements.  To  these  linguistic  studies  the  French 
tongue,  as  written  afterwards  by  Calvin,  is  greatly  in- 
debted for  its  beauty  and  fluenc3^ 

It  is  interesting  to  listen  to  one  of  his  enemies,  who 
writes  of  his  conduct  at  this  period  of  his  life  as  follows : 

"Under  a  lean  and  attenuated  body,  he  already  dis- 
played a  lively  and  vigorous  spirit,  prompt  at  repartio, 


8  JOHN    CAI.VIN. 

bold  to  attack;  a  great  faster,  either  on  account  of  his 
health  and  to  stop  the  fumes  of  the  headache  which 
assaulted  him  continually,  or  to  have  his  mind  more  free 
for  writing,  studying,  and  improving  his  memory.  He 
spoke  but  little,  but  his  "words  were  always  full  of 
gravity  and  never  missed  their  aim;  he  was  never  to 
be  seen  in  company,  but  always  in  retirement. ' ' 

At  this  time  the  "Lutheran"  heresy,  as  the  reforma- 
tion movement  was  dubbed  by  its  enemies,  had  entered 
France.  Calvin  might  have  seen  the  burning  of  Pov- 
anne,  the  first  martyr  of  the  reformation  at  Paris,  and 
others  following  him.  What  did  the  seventeen-year-old 
Calvin  think  of  these  executions  ?  We  have  no  means  of 
knowing,  except  that  soon  afterwards  he  was  not  afraid 
to  expose  himself  to  like  dangers. 

In  the  year  1527,  when  Calvin  was  eighteen  years  of 
age,  his  studies  took  a  different  turn.  Of  this  change 
he  himself  gives  the  following  account: 

''When  I  was  yet  a  very  little  boy  my  father  had 
destined  me  for  the  study  of  theology.  But  afterwards, 
when  he  considered  that  the  legal  profession  commonly 
raised  those  who  followed  it  to  wealth,  this  prospect 
induced  him  suddenly  to  change  his  purpose.  Thus  it 
came  to  pass  that  I  was  withdrawn  from  the  study  of 
philosophy,  and  was  put_tgj;he  s_tudy„of^law. ' ' 

Calvin  himself  does  not  seem  to  have  been  consulted 
in  this  step,  but,  governed  in  all  things  by  his  sense 
of  duty  rather  than  by  inclination,  he  lost  no  time  in 
giving  effect  to  his  father's  will. 

Leaving  Paris  he  repaired  to  the  University  of  Or- 
leans, which  had  long  been  the  chief  faculty  of  law  in 
France.  Under  the  celebrated  lawyer,  Peter  Stella, 
he  soon  distinguished  himself  so  much  that  at  the  ex- 
piration of  a  year  he  was  no  longer  considered  a  pupil 


A   STIDKNT   AT  'I'llK-KK    UN  IVElxSITIES.  9 

but  a  teacher,  being  more  than  once  employed  to  teach 
the  classcfi  during  the  absence  or  illness  of  the  profess- 
ors. As  in  the  case  of  other  successful  ministers,  this 
legal  training  proved  a  prei)aration  for  his  great  work- 
in  the  future,  as  a  statesman  fh  Geneva,  and  as  foundei- 
of  the  Presbyterial  Church  Government.  "When  Calvin 
left  the  University,  the  highest  honors  of  the  faculty 
were  imanimously  conferred  on  him  without  any  fee, 
as  a  reward  for  imcomraori  merit.  Letters  from  this 
period  show  that  he  had  a  large  circle  of  friends,  that 
he  had  a  strong  inclination  to  form  friendships,  that 
he  was  ^wrm  and  steady  in  his  attachments,  and  that, 
while  exempt  from  vices  and  frivolities,  he  could  indulge 
in  the  gay  humor  and  pleasantries  of  youth. 

In  the  year  1531,  Calvin  went  to  the  University  of 
Bourges,  attracted  by  the  fame  of  Alciat,  professor  of 
law  from  Italy.  There  he  met  Melchior  "Wolmar,  a 
German  from  Rothweil  in  Switzerland,  a  person  of 
great  integrity  and  learning,  under  whom  he  studied 
Greek  and  the  New  Testament.  A  mutual  friendship 
was  formed  between  the  two  which  lasted  till  the  death 
of  Wolmar.  In  a  dedication  of  one  of  his  books  to 
'Wolmar,  Calvin  writes: 

''I  cannot  forget  the  fidelity  with  which  you  have 
cultivated  and  increased  the  friendship  which  was  long 
ago  formed  between  us,  the  liberality  with  which  you 
were  prepared  to  testify  your  regard  for  me  and  the  zeal 
which  you  showed  to  raise  me  to  an  honorable  situation, 
which  the  calling  to  which  I  was  then  bound  prevented 
me  from  accepting.  But  I  am  chiefly  delighted  with 
the  recollection  of  that  early  period  when  my  father 
sent  me  to  acquire  legal  Icnowledge.  T  added  the  study 
of  the  Greek  language  which  you  taught  me.  It  was  not 
your  fault  that  I  did  not  make  greater  progress  in  it, 


10  JOHN    CALVIN. 

for  the  death  of  my  father  called  me  away  soon  after  I 
had  started.  For  this  I  owe  you  no  small  thanks,  that 
you  imbued  my  mind  with  the  first  principles  which 
were  afterwards  of  great  advantage  to  me. ' ' 

About  this  time  he  also»commenced  the  study  of  He- 
brew. From  the  preceding  dedication  we  learn  the 
exact  time  of  his  leaving  the  University  of  Bourges,  for 
his  father  died  on  ]\Iay  26th,  1531.  After  the  fimeral 
Calvin  removed  to  Paris,  partly  for  the  sake  of  super- 
intending the  studies  of  his  younger  brother  Anthony. 
Beza,  Calvin's  first  biographer,  describes  the  reformer's 
diligence  at  these  three  universities  which  he  attended, 
saying:  "It  was  his  custom,  after  a  moderate  supper, 
to  pass  half  the  night  in  study,  and  the  next  morning 
as  soon  as  he  awoke,  to  think  over  again  and  to  complete 
what  he  had  learned  before  midnight.  By  these  night 
w^atches,  he  acquired  his  vast  and  exact  learning,  and 
sharpened  his  natural  powers  of  thought  and  his  acute 
memory,  but  by  the  same  means  he  prepared  for  himself 
bodily  suffering  and  an  early  death." 

In  the  following  year,  1532,  Calvin  published  as  his 
first  work,  a  commentary  on  Seneca's  treatise,  "De 
Clementia,"  with  the  object,  as  some  suppose,  to  stay 
the  wrath  of  King  Francis  I,  and  extinguish  the 
fires  which  had  been  kindled  against  the  "Lutherans." 
But  there  is  no  proof  of  such  a  design  in  the  book; 
neither  is  it  possible  to  infer  from  the  numerous  notes 
what  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  commentator  were 
at  that  time.  The  work  is  entirely  literary  and  philo- 
sophical,— the  first  fruits  of  his  extensive  classical 
studies. 


CHAPTER    III. 

CONVERSION  AND  FIRST  LABORS. 

We  come  now  to  the  great  crisis  in  our  reiornier's 
life,  his  "sudden  conversion,"  as  he  himself  calls  this 
change,  which  made  him  an  uncompromising  defender 
of  the  Reformed  faith.  Although  "sudden"  avc  may 
easily  recognize  different  steps  and  a  progressive 
development  in  this  change.  His  youth  was  irreproach- 
ably pure,  he  was  a  devoted  Catholic.  "I  was  obsti- 
nately addicted,"  he  tells  us,  "to  the  Papal  supersti- 
tions." In  Paris  he  must  have  learned  much  of  the 
new  doctrines.  The  discussions  to  which  they  led  in 
the  theological  faculty,  and  the  persecution  to  which 
they  subjected  a  person  of  such  note  as  Berquin,  must 
have  formed  the  topic  of  frequent  conversations  among 
the  more  advanced  students.  Considerable  influence 
must  have  been  exerted  on  his  mind  by  his  kinsman 
Olivetan,  the  future  translator  of  the  Bible  into  French, 
who  directed  him  to  the  study  of  the  Scripture.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  he  received  this  advice  before  he 
left  Paris  for  Orleans.  In  this  city,  he  lodged  in  the 
same  house  with  a  German  Protestant. 

His  German  professor  Wolmar  at  Bourges  had  opened 
to  him  the  New  Testament  in  the  original  Greek.  This 
influence,  and  the  conversation  and  disputes  with  several 
of  his  Protestant  fellow-students  opened  his  eyes  to 
some  of  the  abuses  in  the  church ;  but  it  was  not  until  a 
later  period  that  the  light  broke,  and  he  became  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ  by  "a  sudden 
conversion."  A  graphic  description  of  his  state  of 
mind  at  this  decisive  turning  point  is  contained  in  his 

11 


12  JOHN    CALVIN. 

famous  letter  to  Cardinal  Sadolet,  written  from  Stras- 
burg,  in  which  he  says : 

' '  The  law  which  I  strove  faithfully  to  obey  took  hold 
of  my  conscience,  and  convinced  me  more  deeply  of  sin. 
I  tried  absolutions,  penances,  intercessions,  but  with- 
out obtaining  relief  or  peace  of  mind.  As  often  as  I 
looked  into  myself  or  attempted  to  lift  my  eyes  to  thee, 
0  God,  I  was  filled  with  a  dread  which  no  penances 
could  mitigate.  The  more  narrowly  I  inspected  myself 
the  deeper  did  the  sting  enter  into  my  conscience,  so 
that  at  last  I  could  find  no  ease  but  by  steeping  my 
mind  in  f orgetfulness. " 

The  precise  date  of  Caly.in.'s  conversion  is  uncertain, 
but  most  hiatoria.ns  place  it  as  late  as  1532,  after  the 
publication  of  his  first  book. 

The  effects  of  his  conversion  were  immediate  on  the 
young  scholar's  plans  of  life.  The  study  of  the  law 
was  at  first  prosecuted  with  relaxed  energy,  and  in  a 
short  time  entirely  laid  aside.  But  he  had  no  thought 
of  coming  forward  as  a  regular  preacher.  He  desired 
first  to  examine  the  foundations  of  the  Reformed  faith 
and  to  study  with  critical  attention  the  controversial 
writings  of  the  age,  as  well  as  to  read  the  works  of  the 
Church  fathers,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  serve  the 
reformation  with  his  pen  and  help  in  constructing  a 
theological  system  of  sound  doctrine. 

Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes.  The  retirement 
which  Calvin  sought  seemed  to  flee  from  him.  The  ex- 
tent and  solidity  of  his  knowledge,  joined  to  an  unaf- 
fected and  manly  style  filled  the  friends  of  the  reforma- 
tion with  admiration,  and  soon  we  find  him  at  Orleans, 
Bourges,  and  other  places,  preaching  and  teaching,  so 
that  he  could  say,  "All  my  retreats  were  like  public 
schools."     Young  as  he  was,  he  was  even   consulted 


CONVERSION    AND    FIRST    LABORS.  13 

along  with  the  first  reformers  on  the  celebrated  question 
of  the  marriage  of  Henry  VIII  of  England.  Most  of  his 
available  time  for  preaching  he  gave,  however,  to  the 
Protestants  of  Paris.  The  evangelical  party  in  that  city 
held  their  meetings  in  quiet  places.  Among  them  was  a 
merchant,  Stephen  de  la  Forge,  who  did  much  for  the 
truth,  and  was  subsequently  burned  at  the  stake. 
Calvin  praises  him  as  one  to  be  blessed  among  the  faith- 
ful— a  holy  martyr  of  Christ.  In  these  meetings  at 
Paris,  Calvin  preached  with  great  force,  often  conclud- 
ing his  discourse  with  these  words,  "If  God  be  for  us, 
who  can  be  against  us." 

A  Catholic  French  writer  speaks  of  this  period  of 
his  work  as  follows : 

"Devoted  otherwise  to  his  books  and  his  study,  he 
was  unweariedly  active  in  everything  which  concerned 
the  advancement  of  his  sect.  We  have  seen  our  prisons 
choked  with  poor  mistaken  wretches,  whom  he  exhorted 
without  ceasing;  consoled  or  confirmed  by  letters.  Nor 
were  messengers  wanting,  to  whom  the  doors  were,  open, 
not^vithstanding  all  the  diligence  exercised  by  the  jailers. 
In  this  way  he  gained  step  b}'^  step  a  part  of  our  France. 
Later  he  wished  to  proceed  more  rapidly  and  he  sent 
out  what  he  called  'preachers'  to  promulgate  his  religion 
in  holes  and  corners  and  even  in  Paris  itself  where  tlie 
fires  were  lit  to  consume  them." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

A  FUGITIVE  IN  HIS  OWN  COUNTRY. 

Not  long  after  Calvin's  conversion,  in  1533,  an  inci- 
dent occurred  which  brought  his  name  prominently  be- 
fore the  public.  Nicholas  Cop,  a  friend  of  Calvin  and 
rector  of  the  University,  took  occasion  of  an  inaugural 
address  to  deliver  an  oration  on  ''Christian  Philoso- 
phy," which,  it  turned  out  afterwards,  had  been  com- 
posed for  him  by  Calvin.  The  boldness  of  the  ideas, 
and  the  evangelical  character  of  the  sentiments,  excited 
a  storm  of  disapprobation.  The  University  obtained  an 
order  from  the  French  Parliament  to  seize  the  rector 
and  the  suspected  author.  Cop  at  first  delivered  him- 
self to  the  officers  of  the  court,  but,  being  admonished  on 
the  way  to  the  court-house  of  the  danger  to  which  he 
was  exposed,  made  his  escape  and  retired  into  Switzer- 
land. Going  straight  to  Calvin's  lodgings,  the  officers 
searched  his  chamber  in  his  absence  and  papers  were 
discovered  implicating  the  reformer  and  several  of  his 
friends.  Warned  in  time,  the  reformer  escaped  by  a 
window  and  ran  to  the  St.  Victor  suburb,  where  he 
changed  his  clothes  and  fled  in  the  disguise  of  a  vine- 
dresser. 

Calvin  was  now  for  some  time  a  fugitive  in  his  own 
country.  But  going  from  place  to  place  he  scattered  thy 
seed  of  the  gospel  on  every  side.  He  went  first  to  the 
castle  of  the  Lord  of  Hazeville.  During  his  stay  in  that 
part  of  the  country  he  made  a  number  of  converts,  some 
of  whom  afterwards  became  eminent  in  the  Reformed 
Church.  At  last  he  went  to  Nerac,  the  court  of  Mar- 
guerite, the  Queen  of  Navarre,  who  had  given  an  asylum 

14 


A   FUGITIVE    IN    HIS   OWN    COUNTRY.  15 

to  many  of  those  whom  persecution  had  chased  from 
Paris,  Orleans,  Meaux,  and  other  places.  At  Nerac  he 
visited  the  celebrated  Faber,  who  had  preached  the  doc- 
trines of  justification  by  faith  before  Luther,  in  1512, 
who  had  also  been  the  tutor  of  the  king's  children  and 
was  now  living  in  banishment.  This  venerable  old  man 
listened  to  Calvin's  conversation  with  deep  interest,  and 
after  his  departure  said  to  his  friends:  "Calvin  will  be 
a  distinguished  instrument  in  restoring  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  France."  At  Angouleme,  Calvin  remained  some 
little  time  with  Du  Tillet.  a  priest,  and  a  secret  adherent 
of  the  Reformed  faith.  Traces  of  his  residence  there 
long  existed  in  the  country;  a  vineyard  was  known  as 
"Calvin's  Vineyard"  150  years  after  his  death.  His 
host  possessed  a  library  of  over  3,000  books,  an  enor- 
mous number  for  the  times,  which  Calvin  knew  how  to 
appreciate.  He  repaid  Du  Tillet 's  hospitality  by  teach- 
ing him  Greek — another  way  of  teaching  him  the  gospel. 
Here  he  also  prepared  the  first  sketch  of  his  "Insti- 
tutes," and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  clergy 
knew  him  to  be  a  fugitive  for  heresy,  they  invited  him 
to  address  them  on  three  special  occasions.  At  Du  Til- 
let's  request,  he  prepared  a  number  of  sermons,  called 
"Christian  Exhortations,"  to  be  used  by  the  priests 
of  the  district. 

In  1534,  the  reformer  boldly  ventured  to  return  to 
Paris,  the  case  of  Cop's  address  having  been  dropped 
at  the  request  of  Queen  INIarguerite,  the  King's  sister. 
But  when  he  arrived  at  Paris  he  found  persecution  of 
the  Protestants  raging  so  violently  that  it  was  imsafe 
for  him  to  remain  long.  It  was  the  "Year  of  the  Pla- 
cards." Every  morning  Paris  saw  little  handbills 
posted  up  in  the  streets,  on  the  doors  of  the  churches 
and  the  imiversity,  and  sometimes  they  found  their  way 


16  JOHN   CALVIN. 

even  into  the  King's  palace.  One  such  placard  against 
the  mass  exasperated  the  priests  beyond  bounds.  A 
solemn  street  procession  "to  propitiate  God's  outraged 
majesty"  was  held  on  January  29,  1535.  The  sacred 
host  vi^hich  the  reformers  outraged  by  persistently  call- 
ing it  ' '  bread ' '  was  carried  under  a  canopy  borne  by  the 
four  chief  dignitaries  of  the  kingdom,  the  Dauphin  and 
the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Vendome,  and  Angouleme.  The 
King  walked  behind,'  bare-headed,  with  a  torch  in  his 
hand,  as  if  to  make  expiation  for  the  kingdom.  After 
a  magnificently  celebrated  mass,  the  King  repaired  to 
the  episcopal  palace,  seated  himself  upon  the  throne, 
and,  surrounded  by  the  clergy,  the  nobility  and  parlia- 
ment in  their  gorgeous  robes,  solemnly  declared  his  in- 
tention of  granting  neither  peace  nor  truce  to  him  who 
should  separate  from  the  religion  of  the  State.  He  was 
above  all  indignant  that  his  good  city  of  Paris  ''from 
time  immemorial  the  head  and  pattern  of  all  good  Chris- 
tians" hqd  not  been  protected  from  this  "Protestant 
pestilence. "  "As  for  me,  your  King,  if  I  knew  that  one 
of  my  members  was  tainted  with  this  detestable  error, 
I  would  lop  it  off,  and  if  one  of  my  children  were  in- 
fected, I  would  sacrifice  him  myself."  On  the  same 
day,  six  fires,  in  six  different  parts  of  the  city,  con- 
sumed six  Reformed  men,  one  of  whom  was  de  la  Forge, 
the  host  and  friend  of  Calvin.  Torture  was  added  to 
fire.  The  condemned,  fastened  to  a  long  swinging  beam, 
were  to  be  plunged  into  the  flames,  then  withdrawn, 
then  plunged  again,  and  then  withdra-wTi  once  more, 
until  life  was  extinct.  Like  Nero,  the  King  of  France 
wished  that  his  victims  should  feel  themselves  die 
Moreover,  like  that  Roman  monster,  he  desired  to  be- 
hold their  tortures  with  his  own  eyes.     As  he  returned 


A    FUGITIVE    IN    HTR   OWN    COUNTRY. 


17 


to  the  Louvre,  he  ordered  his  carriage  to  pass  the  six 
fires  in  succession. 

Calvin,  who  was  forced  to  keep  silence  before  this 
dreadful  spectacle,  resolved  to  seek  an  asylum  elsewhere. 
Before  he  left,  hoAvever,  he  had  accepted  a  challenge 
from  Michael  Servetus  to  discuss  with  him  the  doctrine 


Calvin's  Cave 


of  the  Trinity.  Calvin,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  kept  the 
appointed  place  and  time,  but  Servetus  did  not  make  his 
appearance.  Leaving  Paris,  Calvin  returned  to  An- 
gouleme  to  take  leave  of  Dn  Tillot.  but  1lio  latter  de- 


18  JOHN   CALVIN. 

termined  to  accompany  him.  They  stopped  at  Poitiers, 
where  he  organized  a  small  congregation,  and  where  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  administered  in  a  cave  near  the  city, 
known  to  this  day  as  "Calvin's  Grotto."  At  Orleans, 
where  they  went,  he  wrote  his  first  theological  book  on 
the  "Sleep  of  the  Soul,"  directed  against  the  Anabap- 
tists' view,  who  maintained  that  the  soul  either  perished 
with  the  body  at  death,  or  slept  till  the  resurrection. 


C  II  A  P  T  E  R     V. 

A  PILGRIM  IN  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Constitutionally  inclined  to  meditation  rather  tlian 
action,  and  seeing  that  he  could  not  be  of  any  assistance 
to  his  brethren  in  France,  Calvin,  after  these  wander- 
ings, decided  to  retreat  to  Strasburg  in  order  to  prose- 
cute his  studies  free  -from  constant  interruption.  Du 
Tillet  accompanied  him.  On  their  way  to  j\Ietz,  one 
of  their  two  servants  stole  their  money,  and  mounting 
the  fleetest  horse  belonging  to  the  party,  made  his 
escape.  By  borrowing  what  the  other  servant  happened 
to  possess,  which  amounted  only  to  ten  crowns,  they  ar- 
rived safely  at  Strasburg,  a  German  imperial  city,  where 
13  years  before  the  reformation  had  been  introduced. 
Here  is  the  place  to  introduce  the  reflections  which 
Calvin  made  on  that  portion  of  his  life  which  we  have 
reviewed.  Speaking  of  the  change  of  his  studies  from 
theology  to  law  quoted  before,  Calvin  continues:  "In 
deference  to  parental  authority,  I  applied  myself  faith- 
fully to  this  new  study ;  but  God,  by  the  secret  sign  o^ 
his  providence  gave  a  different  direction  to  my  course. 
First,  when  I  was  obstinately  addicted  to  the  papal 
superstition  and  steeled  with  prejudice  beyond  mj^  years, 
so  as  to  resist  all  attempts  to  draw  me  from  the  miry 
pit,  it  pleased  him,  by  a  sudden  conversion,  to  subdue 
my  mind  to  docility.  Being  thus  imbued  with  some 
relish  for  true  piety,  I  became  so  inflamed  with  the  de- 
sire to  make  some  proficiency  in  divine  Imowledge,  that 
other  studies,  though  not  altogether  laid  aside,  were 
prosecuted  with  coldness ;  and  before  a  year  had  elapsed 
all  the  friends  of  the  true  doctrine  had  sought  me, 

19 


20  JOHN   CAIiVIN. 

though  as  yet  but  a  novice,  for  instruction.  Naturally, 
somewhat  diffident  and  always  fond  of  ease,  I  courted 
retirement,  but  instead  of  obtaining  it,  my  retreat  re- 
sembled a  public  school.  In  short,  while  my  sole  desire 
was  to  enjoy  an  inglorious  ease,  God  so  surroimded  me 
by  various  windings  that  I  could  find  it  nowhere;  and 
in  spite  of  myself,  I  was  drawn  into  the  light.  On  that 
account,  I  resolved  to  leave  my  native  country,  and 
went  to  Germany  in  the  hope  of  finding  in  some  obscure 
corner,  that  retirement  which  I  had  long  sought  in 
vain." 

After  a  short  time  Calvin  left  Strasburg  for  Basel,  as 
the  place  most  suited  for  study.  "You  will  find  many 
conveniences  here."  writes  Oecolampadius,  the  reformer 
of  Basel,  when  inviting  a  friend  to  be  professor  in  their 
imiversity.  ''Healthful  air,  a  pleasant  situation,  a 
people,  since  they  embraced  Christ,  peaceable  and  simple 
in  their  manners;  ready  access  to  printers.  Basel  has 
always  beeu  a  favorite  city  with  learned  men.  Erasmus 
is  indeed  gone,  to  please  the  princess  to  whom  he  is 
under  obligations,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  he  will  soon 
return."  Before  Calvin's  arrival  at  Basel,  her  great 
reformer  had  died,  but  Calvin  found  a  large  number 
of  other'  friends.  Here  he  prosecuted  the  study  of 
Hebrew,  the  first  elements  of  which  he  had  acquired 
before. 

His  first  work  in  Basel  was  the  writing  of  a  preface 
and  a  recommendation  to  the  French  translation  of  the 
Bible  by  his  friend  Olivetan,  which  has  become  the 
foundation  of  all  subsequent  translations  into  the 
French  tongue.  This  was  followed  by  a  larger  and 
more  important  work,  the  composition  of  his  epoch-mak- 
ing book — -"The  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion." 
This  book  was  a  necessity,  both  as  a  satisfaction  to  the 


A   r-H-ninM  in  foreign  I;Ands.  21 

mind  of  the  Church,  and  also  that  the  Reformation 
might  have  something  to  oppose  to  the  imposing  and 
compact  systems  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Calvin  accom- 
plished the  task  with  decisive  success.  The  external 
motive  which  led  to  the  composition  of  the  book  was 
the  gross  luisrepresentation  of  the  Eeformod  doctrine 
by  the  King  of  France.  The  latter  was  in  need  of  the 
Protestants  of  Germany  in  his  war  against  the  Emperor, 
Charles  V.  The  Protestant  princes  of  Germany  refused 
to  assist  him  for  the  reason  that  he  persecuted  their 
lirethren  in  the  faith  in  France.  The  king  assured  them 
that  those  Reformed  people  Avere  enemies  of  civil  order, 
like  the  Anabaptists  in  Germany.  "What  he  punished 
in  them,  he  said,  was  not  their  religious  opinions  but 
their  social  and  political  doctrines.  This,  of  course,  was 
a  falsehood  on  the  part  of  the  King.  Calvin,  who  had 
accumulated  material  in  abundance,  decided  to  vindicate 
his  wronged  brethren  by  stating  and  defending  tlie 
doctrines  for  whicR  they  bled  and  died.  Remembering 
the  purpose  of  the  book,  we  can  imagine  the  spirit  that 
reigns  in  it.  It  is  anything  but  a  dry  text-book  of  doc- 
trine. It  has  been  called  a  poem  in  prose.  The  book, 
as  published  in  Basel,  in  1536.  when  its  author  was  only 
26  years  of  age,  was  a  small  volume,  which  subsequent 
editions  enlarged  to  many  times  its  original  size.  It  was 
Avritten  in  Latin  and  afterwards  translated  into  French. 
Italian.  Spanish.  Dutch,  German.  English.  Himgarian. 
Greek  and  Arabic.  Prefixed  to  it  is  a  preface  ad- 
dressed to  Francis  I,  reminding  the  King  of  his  respon- 
sibilities as  a  minister  of  God  and  pleading  for  his  per- 
secuted brethren.  During  his  whole  life.  Calvin  never 
ceased  revising  and  perfecting  this  book,  though  no 
changes  in  its  essential  contents  were  made.  Of  the  con- 
tents of  this  monumental  work  we  shall  have  occasion 


22  JOHN   CALVIN. 

to  speak  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  Its  influence  on  pos- 
terity was  immense.  It  passed  through  the  creeds  into 
the  thoughts  of  men  and  nations,  became  the  soul  of 
Presbyterianism  and  Puritanism,  of  Republicanism  in 
Holland  and  America,  and  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  whose  authors,  Zacharias  Ursinus  and 
Caspar  Olevianus,  were  Calvin 's  pupils. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  the  Institutes,  Calvin  left 
Basel  and  went  to  Italy,  where  he  was  hospitably  re- 
ceived at  the  court  of  the  deformed  but  accomplished 
little  daughter  of  Louis  XII,  of  France,  Renata,  the 
Duchess  of  Ferrara,  whose  love  of  the  gospel  induced 
her  to  shield  the  persecuted  Protestants.  Here  Calvin 
lived  under  the  assumed  name  of  Charles  Hippeville, 
and  by  his  instructions  confirmed  the  mind  of  the 
Duchess.  Soon  after  his  arrival  the  Duke  entered  into 
a  treaty  with  the  German  Emperor  and  the  Pope,  by 
which  he  bound  himself  to  remove  all  Frenchmen  from 
his  court.  So  Calvin  had  to  leave  Again.  An  uncon- 
firmed report  says  that  he  was  seized  in  his  dwelling  and 
was  already  on  the  way  to  Bologna  to  answer  the  charge 
of  heresy  when  he  was  carried  off,  like  Luther,  by  a 
masked  horseman  and  restored  to  liberty. 

On  his  return  he  spent  some  time  in  Piedmont,  most 
probably  in  visiting  the  Waldensian  churches,  among 
whom  his  friend  Olivetan  continued  to  labor.  Aosta  was 
deeply  agitated  by  the  Reformed  faith  at  this  time,  but 
the  town  being  too  well  guarded  he  could  not  enter. 

Calvin  went  to  a  farm  close  by,  which  to  this  day  is 
known  as  ''Calvin's  Farm."  The  people  flocked  to  him 
in  large  numbers.  A  political  and  religious  revolution 
was  in  progress.  He  was  in  constant  danger  but 
remained.  "Warned  that  he  was  about  to  be  arrested,  he 
fied,  on  March  eighth,  accompaoie(i  b^  some  of  his  ad-. 


Calvin's  Cross  at  Aosta 


24  JOHN   CALVIN. 

herents.  As  St.  Bernard  was  guarded,  they  had  to  tak*; 
by-paths,  crossing  torrents  and  scaling  precipices;  bnt 
even  then  they  were  in  constant  danger,  for  the  Count 
of  Chalans  gave  chase  to  Calvin,  and  pursued  him  with 
a  drawn  sword.  But  Calvin  and  his  companions  at 
length  got  beyond  the  territory  of  the  Duranda,  one  of 
the  lofty  entrances  of  that  region,  and  still  designated 
by  the  name  of  "Calvin's  Window."  Many  of  the  ad- 
herents of  the  Reformation  who  remained  were  impris- 
oned and  burned  at  the  stake,  and  in  1541  a  cross  was 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  city  recording  the  flight  of 
Calvin  and  the  deliverance  of  Aosta.  This  inscription, 
having  become  effaced  by  time,  was  replaced  in  1841 
upon  the  restored  monument,  by  those  who  wished  the 
country  to  bless  forever  the  day  which  thrurit  it  back 
beneath  the  yoke  of  Eome. 

In  the  same  year,  1536,  Calvin  visited  Noyon  owing 
to  the  death  of  his  elder  brother  Charles,  an  ecclesiastic, 
but  also,  alas,  a  sceptic  and  a  libertine.  From  here  he 
resolved  to  return  to  Basel,  that  fair  city  on  the  Rhine, 
whose  Reformed  government,  flourishing  university, 
busy  printing  presses  and  learned  society,  made  it  so 
tempting  an  abode  for  a  man  of  letters  like  Calvin. 
But  again  the  hand  of  destiny  seemed  to  be  on  our  Re- 
former. War  had  broken  out  between  Charles;  Y  and 
Francis  I  and  the  direct  route  to  Basel  through  Lorain 
was  blocked.  Calvin  was  compelled  to  make  a  long 
detour  and  thus  late  in  August,  1536,  we  find  him  at 
Geneva. 


0 
CHAPTER    VI. 


FIRST  MINISTRY  IN  GENEVA. 

Politically,  Geneva  was,  when  Calvin  entered  the  city, 
what  it  is  to-day,  a  little  republic,  a  part  of  the  French- 
speaking  section  of  Switzerland.  The  state  was  governed 
by  a  council  of  twenty-five,  consisting  of  four  syndics, 
or  magistrates,  elected  by  the  people,  twenty  counsellors 
and  a  treasurer.  Over  this  was  a  council  of  sixty ;  over 
this  again  a  council  of  tw^o  hundred,  and  above  all  was 
a  General  Assembly  of  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens. 

In  1532,  William  Farel  first  entered  the  city,  preach- 
ing the  Reformed  faith.  A  fierce  struggle  began  at  once. 
But  soon  a  church  was  conceded  to  the  Protestant 
preachers.  A  disputation,  after  the  usual  fashion  of 
the  times,  was  held  before  the  Council,  in  which  the 
Romanists  were  worsted.  In  1534,  the  bishop  left  the 
city  and  in  1536  a  General  Assembly  of  the  people, 
"lifting  up  their  hands,  promised  and  swore  to  God 
that  by  his  help  they  would  live  according  to  the  holy 
evangelical  religion  and  "Word  of  God  lately  preached 
to  them,  renouncing  the  mass,  idols,  images,  and  every 
other  papal  abuse." 

Thus  far  had  the  Reformation  advanced  in  Geneva 
on  that  memorable  evening  when  Calvin  entered  its 
gates.  He  had  intended  to  remain  only  a  single  night 
in  the  city  and  for  this  reason  endeavored  to  keep  his 
presence  secret.  But  Farel  had  been  advised  of  his  ar- 
rival and  hurried  at  once  to  the  inn  to  urge  Calvin  to 
stay  and  help  him  in  a  work  which  he  felt  was  beyond 
his  ability.  The  scene  that  followed  was  dramatic  in  the 
extreme,  and  became  the  subject  of  a  famous  painting. 

25 


FIUST    MINISTRY    IX    GKXEVA.  27 

Calvin,  shrinking,  with  his  whole  soul,  from  the  task 
which  Farel  sought  to  force  upon  him,  made  every  ex- 
cuse he  could  think  of.  lie  was  a  studious  man,  he  said; 
he  did  not  wish  lo  hind  himself  to  one  church,  but  -would 
endeavor  to  serve  all;  lie  was  timid  and  loved  retire- 
ment. But  Farel  was  not  to  be  daunted.  AVith  some- 
thing of  the  energy  of  an  old  Hebrew  prophet,  he  sud- 
denly arose  and  placed  himself  dramatically  before 
Calvin  and  proceeded  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to 
pronounce  a  curse  on  the  studies  of  Calvin,  if  they  kept 
him  from  coming  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  in  this  great 
distress.  "I  declare  unto  thee,"  he  said,  "on  the  part 
of  God,  that  if  lliou  refuse  to  labor  with  its  here  in 
God's  work,  he  will  curse  thee;  for  in  i)leading  thy 
studies  as  an  excuse  for  abandoning  us,  thou  seekest 
thyself  more  than  God."  Calvin  tells  ns  that  this  ad- 
dress filled  him  with  such  terror  that  he  felt  powerless 
to  resist  any  longer.  Being,  during  his  w^hole  life,  a 
slave  to  what  he  conceived  as  duty,  he  laid  aside  his 
own  preferences  and  at  once  obeyed  the  command  of 
God  through  one  of  his  servants,  l^ut  the  story  can  best 
be  told  in  his  own  words.  lie  says,  in  the  preface  to  his 
Commentary  on  the  Psalms:  "As  the  most  direct  route 
to  Strasburg,  to  which  I  then  intended  to  retire,  was 
blocked  by  the  wars.  1  had  resolved  to  pass  quickly 
to  Geneva  without  staying  longer  than  a  single  night 
in  that  city.  A  p(>rson,  Louis  Du  Tillet,  who  has  nov,- 
retui'ned  to  the  Papists  discovered  me  and  made  me 
known  to  others.  Upon  this  Farel,  who  burned  with 
an  extraordinary  zeal  to  advance  the  gospel,  immediately 
strained  every  nerve  to  detain  me.  After  having  learned 
that  my  heart  was  set  upon  devoting  myself  to  private 
studies,  for  which  I  wished  to  keep  myself  free  from 
other  pursuits,  and  finding  that  he  gained  nothing  by 


I'lUST    MINISTRY    IX    OENEVA.  20 

entreaties,  he  proceeded  to  utter  an  imprecation  that 
CJod  would  curse  iny  retirement  and  the  tranquility  of 
the  studies  which  I  sought,"  if  I  should  withdraw  and 
refuse  assistance  when  the  necessity  was  so  urgent.  By 
this  imprecation  I  was  so  stricken  with  terror  that  I 
desisted  from  the  journey  which  I  had  undertaken." 

Calvin's  new  office,  which  was  not  well  defined,  was 
I'or  a  time  something  hetween  a  professorship  and  preach- 
ing. His  first  employment  was  to  deliver  a  course  of 
lectures  on  theologj^  which  he  began  to  read  in  St. 
I'eter's  Cathedral,  in  the  month  of  August.  He  had 
not  even  a  fixed  salary,  for  we  read  in  the  council- 
registers,  under  date  of  Feb.  13,  1537.  "Six  gold  cro\\Tis 
are  given  to  Calvin,  seeing  that  he  has  hitherto  scarcely 
received  anything. ' '  Soon  after  he  began  to  preach  and 
was  admitted  as  one  of  the  stated  pastors  of  the  city. 
At  first  the  people  seemed  not  nuieh  impressed  by  the 
reserved,  frail  young  foreigner  Avhose  services  their 
pastor  was  so  anxious  to  secure.  The  council  did  not 
even  interest  itself  enough  to  ask  his  name.  The  minute 
of  the  council,  Sept.  5,  1536,  simply  says:  ''Master  Wil- 
liam Farel  stated  the  need  for  the  lecture  begim  by  this 
Frenchman  at  St.  Peters."  Three  months  after  his 
arrival,  on  Nov.  10th,  the  two  Reformers  achieved  their 
first  signal  success  in  their  endeavor  to  deepen  and  com- 
plete the  real  reformation  of  the  Church.  A  Confession 
of  Faith,  composed  of  twenty-one  Articles,  was  laid  hy 
Farel,  wlio  was  the  chief  pastor,  before  the  coimcil,  and 
adopted  by  that  body.  These  Articles  emphasized  the 
intimate  connection  between  faith  and  conduct.  They 
provided  that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  celebrated 
four  times  a  year ;  that  baptism  should  be  administered 
on  any  day,  but  only  in  the  presence  of  a  public  con- 
gregation, and  that  marriages  should  also  be  celebrated 


30  JOHN  CALVIN. 

in  public,  after  the  proclamation  of  banns  on  three 
successive  Sabbaths.  Provision  should  be  made  for  min- 
isters. All  shops  should  be  shut  on  Sabbaths  during  the 
service;  images  remaining  in  the  churches  should  be 
taken  down.  The  reputation  of  Farel  was  at  this  time 
at  its  highest  point,  and  his  admonitions  to  the  council 
are  repeatedly  characterized  in  the  minutes  as  ' '  divine. ' ' 
Calvin  next  directed  attention  to  the  schools,  and 
sought  to  establish  throughout  the  territory  a  system  of 
compulsory  education.  This  was  especially  necessary  as 
the  bishops  had  done  nothing  for  public  instruction. 
Calvin's  idea  of  education  included  instruction  in  re- 
ligion and  in  order  to  provide  a  text-book,  he  prepared 
his  famous  catechism  for  children.  It  was  practical,  com- 
pact, breathing  the  spirit  of  true  devotion.  Many  cate- 
chisms, especially  the  Westminster  and  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chisms, drew  inspiration  and  substance  from  Calvin's 
little  book.  Laws  were  already  in  force  in  Geneva  when 
Calvin  entered  it,  not  only  forbidding  vice,  but  laying 
down  regulations  in  regard  to  dress,  food,  ornament,  and 
requiring  attendance  at  public  worship.  The  magis- 
trate warmly  seconded  his  efforts  to  enforce  those  regu- 
lations. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

STRUGGLES  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES  AND  BANISH- 
MENT. 

These  Articles  ;iiid  llioii'  su1)se(iiient  mieoiuproniising 
enforcement  show  us  C'rilvin  in  a  different  light,  from 
what  he  appeai-ed  befon;.  In  place  of  the  timid,  retir- 
ing scholar,  anxious  only  to  be  left  alone  with  his  books, 
we  find  him  Hie  ruler  of  men  with  a  great  genius  for 
organization.  1 1  is  ])rinciples  involved  him  in  unend- 
ing eonfiict.  but  be  ultimately  triumphed  and  made 
Geneva  llie  wonder  of  Christendom  for  civil  order,  pure 
morals,  liberal  bvii-ning  ;ind  a  home  of  arts  and  indus- 
tries. 

These  measures  could  not  be  carried  out  without  en- 
countering strong  opposition,  and  a  party  soon  de- 
veloped, hostile  to  the  new  regime.  Tliis  party  received 
the  name  of  ''Libertine."  and  not  unjustly,  for  obviously 
the  best  portion  of  the  community  was  with  Calvin  and 
the  soul  of  the  opposition  consisted  of  men  of  protiigate 
and  abandoned  character.  Only  a  few  of  the  old  patriot 
party,  nnturally  jealous  of  Calvin's  influence,  joiiu'd 
them  and  demanded  "more  liberty."  Government  was 
paralyzed,  and  when  the  pastors  demanded  the  excom- 
munication of  some  persons  who  were  notoriously  im- 
moral, the  council  would  not  comply.  This  vote  encour- 
aged the  Libertin(>  party,  and  the  new  elections  on  Feb. 
3,  1538,  were  decidedly  in  their  favor. 

A  point  of  even  greater  soreness  with  the  Libertines 
than  the  rigor  of  the  civil  laws,  w^as  the  power  claimed 
by  Calvin  to  debar  unworthy  persons  from  the  sacra- 
ment.    Zwingli  and  Luther  had  expressed  similar  ideas 

31 


Calvin's  Pulpit  in  St.  Peter's,  Geneva 


Calvin's  Chair  still  in  St.  Peter's  at  Geneva 


34  JOHN    CALVIN. 

but  these  remained  pious  wishes  and  little  attempt  was 
made  to  enforce  these  obviously  right  views.  Calvin,  on 
the  other  side,  considered  discipline  a  vital  point  for  the 
purity  of  4he  Church  and  stood  firm  as  a  rock,  although 
his  conduct  exposed  him  and  his  associates  to  the  coarsest 
public  insults.  The  pastors  courageously  spoke  from  the 
pulpit  on  these  questions,  admonishing  the  people  to  sub- 
mit to  these  salutary  laws,  and  censured  the  magistrate 
for  failing  to  enforce  them.  The  Libertines  at  this  time, 
received  reinforcements  by  two  Anabaptists  ("Re-bap- 
tizers")  who  had  recently  arrived  at  Geneva,  and  who 
hated  Calvin  in  an  especial  manner  because  of  his  letter 
to  the  King  of  France,  printed  in  his  "Institutes,"  in 
which  he  had  disavowed  all  connection  of  the  Reformed 
Church  with  these  fanatical  men.  Germany,  Holland, 
Switzerland, — in  fact  all  AVestern  Europe  was  overrun 
by  members  of  this  fanatical  sect.  Their  extravagant 
opinions  tended  to  subvert  Church  and  State  alike.  A 
visible  kingdom  of  God  was  their  ideal.  One  of  these 
emissaries,  Caroli,  went  so  far  as  to  attack  Calvin's 
orthodoxy  and  even  had  him  brought  before  a  synod 
to  clear  himself  of  the  charge  of  denying  the  true  Deity 
of  Christ.  "When  blamed  by  Caroli  for  not  accepting 
the  ancient  creeds,  Calvin  rejoined  that  the  Genevan  min- 
istry had  sworn  to  the  belief  in  one  God  and  not  to  the 
creed  of  Athanasius,  whose  symbol  a  true  church  would 
never  have  admitted.  Calvin  gained  a  victory  over  them 
and  the  two  men  were  expelled  from  the  city  on  March 
19.  Later,  in  1544,  he  issued  a  "Brief  Instruction  for 
arming  every  Believer  against  the  Errors  of  the  Ana- 
baptists." The  Libertines  were  disappointed  and  tried 
again  to  down  the  Reformed  preachers. 

"While  this  dispute  was  still  proceeding,  a  new  embar- 
rassment arose  which  hastened  a  revolution.    The  Refor- 


s'l'Kidci.Ks  wrrii    iiik  mhkutin'ES.  35 

null  ion  in  Hci'iic  iuul  other  German  eantons  of  Switzer- 
land was  less  radieal  than  that  of  Geneva.  They 
retained  customs  which  Geneva  did  not  admit.  Geneva 
used  connnon  ])read  at  connnunion.  l^erne  used  unleav- 
ened bread.  Geneva  had  i-eiiioved  the  ])aptismal  fonts 
from  the  churelies.  Berne  had  left  them.  Geneva  ob- 
served Sunday  only.  Berne  had  retained  the  chief  holy 
days  of  the  Church  Year.  The  Bernese  asked  that  on 
these  points  the  people  of  Geneva  should  do  as  they  did. 
Farel  and  Calvin  o])posed  the  demand,  and  this  was 
reason  enough  for  the  Lilx'i-tines  to  side  with  the  Bern- 
ese. A  Synod  was  held  at  Lausanne  to  deliberate  ujion 
the  points  at  issue  and  Farel  and  Calvin  attended.  The 
Synod  adopted  the  views  of  Berne  and  the  reformers 
a]>pealed  to  the  approaching  Synod  at  Zurich  and  re- 
turning to  Geneva,  they  requested  that  no  innovation 
be  made  before  Whitsimtide,  when  the  decision  of  Zurich 
would  be  known.  Calvin  pledged  himself  to  submit  if 
Zurich  should  decide  the  same  as  Lausanne.  But  this 
did  not  suit  the  Libertines. 

Matters  reached  a  crisis  on  Easter  Day.  1538.  Dur- 
ing the  previous  Aveek  the  city  had  been  torn  with  dis- 
sensions. Bands  of  Libcflines  ran  through  the  streets 
at  night.  stoi)ping  before  the  pastors'  dwellings  and  yell- 
ing at  the  top  of  their  voices:  "To  the  Khone !  To  the 
Rhone!''  and  firing  off  their  guns.  They  organized  a 
masquerade  in  ^  which  scenes  from  the  gospel  were 
parodied;  dances,  songs,  excesses  of  every  kind  were 
exhibited  during  those  deplorable  days  and  shameful 
nights.  "When  Easter  dawned,  the  church  bells  seemed 
to  toll  the  death-knell  of  Protestant  Geneva.  Farel 
preached  at  St.  Gervais  and  Calvin  at  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Peters.  Farel  at  once  noticed  among  the  audience  the 
most  fiery  and  disreputable  of  the  Libertines,  but  the 


36  JOHN   CALVIN. 

fearless  preacher  declared  that  he  would  not  aid  them 
in  the  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  that  com- 
munion would  not  be  administered  to-day.  He  insisted 
that  there  must  be  faith  and  charity  and  repentance, 
and  then  in  conclusion  asked  them  how  they  passed  the 
last  night.  Several  times  during  the  sermon  he  was  in- 
terrupted, but  his  voice  rose  above  the  tumult.  At  the 
conclusion  of  his  sermon,  when  he  refused  to  administer 
communion,  several  furious  men  rushed  toward  the 
pulpit  with  drawn  swords.  Farel  held  his  peace,  crossed 
his  arms  and  awaited  them.  But  his  friends  were  also 
numerous.  They  surrounded  him  and  conducted  him 
home.  A  similar  scene  took  place  at  St.  Peter's  Cathe- 
dral, where  Calvin  preached. 

On  Easter  Monday,  the  Council  held  a  hurried  meet- 
ing and  passed  the  sentence  of  banishment  against  the 
two  courageous  ministers,  and  on  Tuesday  this  action  was 
ratified  by  the  General  Council.  One  of  Calvin's  friends 
said  to  the  majority  of  the  Council:  "You  hated  the 
priests  because  they  were  too  much  like  you;  you  hate 
the  Reformed  preachers  because  they  ar^  too  much  un- 
like vou. " 


C  II  A  1'  T  K  li    VII  f . 

MINISTRY  AT  STRASBURG. 

Calvin  received  the  decision  of  banishment  with  cahn- 
ness,  remarking,  "Had  we  been  the  servants  of  men, 
we  would  now  be  ill  repaid,  but  we  serve  a  great  master, 
who  never  lets  those  who  serve  him  go  unrewarded  and 
who  ever  pays  them  what  he  does  not  owe  them. ' '  Then, 
in  company  with  Farel,  he  left  the  city  and  repaired  to 
Berne  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  to  the  government 
the  true  state  of  things,  viz:  that  the  discussion  on  the 
unleavened  bread  had  been  a  pretext  only,  that  Avith 
some  of  the  leaders  it  was  liberty  for  the  flesh  and  with 
others  the  restoration  of  Romanism.  At  Zurich  the  two 
exiles  met  with  the  most  cordial  reception.  Bullinger, 
the  successor  of  Zwingli,  suggested  asking  the  Bernese 
government  to  intercede  with  Geneva  for  the  restora- 
tion of  Calvin  and  Farel.  They  did  so,  but  Geneva  re- 
fused to  comply  with  the  request.  Thereupon  the  Re- 
formers went  to  Basel.  Scarcely  had  they  arrived,  when 
Calvin  received  letters  from  Bucer,  strongly  urging  him 
to  come  to  Strasburg.  He  resisted  at  first,  but  consented 
afterwards,  and  separated  himself  from  Farel,  whom  so 
many  common  trials  had  rendered  ever  dearer  to  him. 
Strasburg  welcomed  Calvin  with  joy.  The  three  years 
which  he  spent  here  in  peace  and  tranquility  w'cre  per- 
haps the  happiest  Calvin  ever  knew,  save  for  interrup- 
tions of  bodily  sickness,  the  effects  of  toil  and  anxiety 
upon  a  frame  not  naturally  strong. 

At  Strasburg,  Calvin  branched  out  into  four  lines  of 
activity — preaching,  teaching,  writing  and  counselling 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Church.     The  town  council  au- 

37 


38 


JOHN    CALVIN. 


thorized  him  to  give  public  lectures  on  the  Bible  and 
afterwards  to  organize  a  church  composed  of  French 
refugees  whom  persecution  had  thrown  into  Strasburg, 


Ihe  Madeline,  Calvin's  Church  at  Strasburir 

and  who  could  not  understand  the  services  in  this  Ger- 
man city  on  the  upper  Rhine.  They  were  allowed  the 
use  of  the  building,  now  called  the  New  Church.  But 
the  council  did  not  pay  him  a  salary.    His  letters  repre- 


IMINIS'l'in'   AT  STKASIJURO.  39 

sent  liiin  as  being  in  netual  misery.  Du  Tillet,  the 
wealthy  priest,  offered  him  assistance,  but  he  refused  it. 
''You  make  me,"  he  says,  "an  offer  for  which  I  cannot 
sufficiently  thank  you,  and  I  am  not  so  unmanly  as  not 
to  appreciate  its  great  kindness.  But  I  will  abstain 
from  burdening  any  one.  At  present  my  board  costs 
me  nothing.  Other  needs  will  be  supplied  by  the  money 
from  the  books."  Later  he  wrote  to  Farel,  "Du  Tillet 
offered  me  money,  but  at  too  high  interest.  Did  he  mean 
to  convert  me?"  Farel,  who  was  settled  at  Neuchatel, 
had  also  offered  him  aid,  but  Calvin  refused  it,  saying, 
"I  have  taken  an  engagement  with  myself  to  accept 
nothing  from  thee,  nor  from  our  mutual  friends,  so 
long  as  I  am  not  absolutely  constrained  to  do  so.  The 
books  which  I  have  left  at  Geneva  will  pay  my  landlord 
till  next  Winter." 

At  Strasburg,  in  1539,  he  revised,  recast  and  greatly 
enlarged  his  "Institutes,"  giving  the  book  substantially 
its  present  form.  As  pastor,  he  had  to  preach  every 
evening.  As  professor,  he  gave  a  lecture  every  morn- 
ing on  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  by  so  doing  amassed  the 
materials  for  the  series  of  great  commentaries,  the  first 
of  which,  that  on  Romans,  appeared  in  Strasburg,  also 
in  1539.  These  noble  books,  in  their  sober  regard  for  the 
historical  and  grammatical  sense  of  Scripture,  in  their 
skill  in  detecting,  and  aptness  in  expressing  the  meaning 
of  the  sacred  writers,  bear  so  remarkably  modem  a  char- 
acter, that  no  expounder  can  afford  to  disregard  them. 
His  lectures,  as  at  Geneva,  soon  attracted  great  num- 
bers, but  the  hearers  were  more  accomplished  than  those 
at  Geneva.  France  continued  to  send  many  fugitives, 
eager  to  hear  and  see  the  author  of  the  Institutes.  Some 
Frenchmen  came  of  their  own  free  will,  being  attracted 
by  the  preacher's  fame.     The  city  coimcil  of  Strasburg 


40  JOHN   CALVIN. 

rejoiced  at  the  homage  paid  to  the  new  professor.  He 
was  presented  with  the  freedom  of  the  city — a  privilege 
highly  prized  in  an  old  imperial  city  like  Strasbnrg.  His 
salary  was  increased  and  he  seemed  to  have  little  to  re- 
gret or  desire. 

But  amid  all  his  pleasant  surroundings  and  employ- 
ment at  Strasburg,  Calvin  could  not  forget  Geneva.  As 
early  as  Oct.  1,  1538,  less  than  three  months  after  hav- 
ing left  the  city,  he  addressed  a  long  and  touching  letter 
to  his  "well-beloved  brethren  in  our  Lord,  who  are  the 
relics  of  the  dispersion  of  the  Church  of  Geneva,"  in 
which  he  writes : 

"Though  discharged  for  the  present  from  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Church  at  Geneva,  nevertheless  this  can- 
not deprive  me  of  bearing  toAvards  her  a  paternal  love 
and  charity ;  towards  her,  I  say,  over  whom  God  once  or- 
dained me  and  so  has  obliged  me  for  ever  to  keep  faith 
and  loyalty  with  her." 

But  besides  Calvin,  two  other  men  were  also  watching 
Geneva — the  expelled  Bishop  of  Geneva,  and  Pope  Paul 
III.  "With  joy  did  the  Romanists  learn  of  the  banish- 
ment of  the  Reformed  leaders,  and  the  subsequent  dis- 
order. One  of  the  councilmen,  Philippe,  the  arch  enemy 
of  Calvin,  who  later  died  a  traitor's  death,  went  to 
Lyons,  in  France,  to  treat  personally  with  the  former 
bishop  with  a  view  to  restoring  Romanism  in  Geneva. 
The  archbishops  of  Lyons,  Besancon,  Vienne  and  Turin, 
and  the  bishops  of  Lausanne,  Langres  and  Carpentras 
formed  a  committee  of  ways  and  means  to  accomplish 
the  feat.  Cardinal-bishop  Sadolet  was  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  negotiations  in  as  careful  and  prudent  a  way 
as  that  wily  prelate  knew.  He  sent  his  famous  "Letter 
to  the  Senate  and  People  of  Geneva" — an  able,  adroit 
epistle,  unique  in  its  way,  in  the  sixteenth  century.    But 


MINISTRY  AT  STRASBURG.  41 

its  effect  was  not  what  he  had  hoped.  There  was  not 
enough  Romish  sentiment  in  the  city.  Tho  letter  aroused 
the  people  as  from  a  dream,  their  eyes  being  opened  to 
the  impending  danger  and  they  became  alert. 

The  Reformed  pastors  who  were  still  at  Geneva  did 
not  feel  equal  to  the  task  of  answering  the  Cardinal's 
letter.  It  was  Calvin  in  Strasburg  who  composed  a  reply 
which  completely  demolished  the  flimsy  "arguments"  of 
Sadolet  and  is  of  such  great  biographical  value  that  we 
found  occasion  in  several  places  of  this  book  to  quote 
some  of  its  choicest  passages.  The  letter  was  received 
with  great  joy  all  over  Europe,  and  no  reply  was  ever 
attempted  by  the  Romanists.  Luther  enjoyed  it,  thor- 
oughly. In  his  dramatic  way  of  expressing  his  ideas,  the 
German  Reformer  wrote:  "Here  is  a  writing  which  has 
hands  and  feet.  I  rejoice  that  God  raises  up  such  men. 
They  will  continue  what  I  have  begim  against  the 
Romish  Anti-Clirist." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

RELATIONS  WITH  THE  GERMAN  REFORMERS. 

During  his  stay  at  Strasburg,  Calvin  entered  into 
more  intimate  relations  with  the  German  reformers.  The 
German  Emperor,  Charles  V,  a  bigoted  Romanist,  was 
at  this  time  engaged  in  schemes  of  mediation  between 
Protestants  and  Romanists,  and  Calvin  went  as  dele- 
gate to  several  diets  and  conferences  held  at  Frankfurt 
(1539),  Worms,  Hagenau  (1540),  and  Ratisbon,  where 
he  met  Philip  Melancthon  and  other  leaders  of  the  Ger- 
man reformation.  At  this  period  the  religious  question 
was  uppermost  among  all  nations  and  the  discussion  on 
the  Lord's  Supper  grew  especially  warm  among  the 
Lutherans  and  the  Eeformed.  By  comparing  views, 
Calvin  and  Melancthon  soon  found  that  their  ideas  on 
this  doctrine  were  similar,  though  by  no  means  alike. 
On  the  principle  that  the  stronger  character  necessarily 
exerts  the  strongest  influence  on  his  surroundings,  we 
are  justified  in  supposing  that  it  was  Melancthon  who 
came  over  to  Calvin's  side,  rather  than  the  reverse.  But 
to  allay  all  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  Swiss  divines 
that  it  was  he  who  had  made  concessions  to  Melancthon, 
Calvin  wrote  his  treatise  ''Of  the  Lord's  Supper,"  while 
he  was  still  residing  at  Strasburg.  Aside,  however,  from 
theological  agreement,  Calvin  and  Melancthon  at  these 
gatherings  learned  to  love  each  other  as  true  friends. 
When  Magister  Philippus  died,  Calvin  bewailed  him 
in  these  words:  ''0  Philip  Melancthon,  a  hundred  times 
hast  thou  said  to  me,  when  weary  with  toil  and  vexation, 
thou  didst  lean  thy  head  upon  my  bosom,  '  would  to  God, 
would  to  God,  that  I  might  die  on  thy  bosom ! '     As  for 

42 


RELATIONS  WITH  THE  GERMAN  REFORMERS.  43 

me,  later,  a  hundred  times  have  I  wished  that  it  had 
been  granted  us  to  be  together.  Certainly  thou  wouldst 
have  been  bolder  to  face  struggles,  more  courageous  to 
despise  envy  and  calunmy.  Then,  also,  would  have  been 
suppressed  the  malignity  of  many  whose  audacity  in- 
creased in  proportion  to  what  they  called  thy  weakness. ' ' 

His  friendship  was  sincere  enough  to  chide  JMelanc- 
thon.  ''Either  I  understand  nothing  in  holy  things," 
he  'wrrites  to  Melancthon  in  1551,  "or  you  ought  not  to 
have  jaelded  thus  to  the  Papists.  We  should  not  be 
afraid  to  write  with  our  ink  upon  paper  Avhat  so  many 
martyrs  write  daily  with  their  blood  upon  the  scaffold. 
I  speak  with  all  frankness.  My  sole  desire  is  that  noth- 
ing should  distress  the  truly  divine  greatness  of  your 
soul.  If  I  appear  to  you  vehement,  it  is  because  I  would 
a  hundred  times  rather  die  with  you  for  the  truth,  than 
see  you  survive  the  truth  betrayed  by  you.  Is  this  to 
say  that  I  mistrust  you?  No;  but  I  desire  j^ou  to  take 
sufficient  precautions  so  that  your  easiness  should  not 
furnish  the  impious  with  the  opportunity  which  they 
seek  of  scoffing  at  God's  truth." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  on  these  different  journeys 
Calvin  never  met  with  Luther,  the  more  so  as  both  men 
respected  each  other  very  highly.  His  veneration  of 
Luther  made  Calvin  very  sensitive  of  the  opinion  of  the 
German  nestor  of  the  reformation  concerning  himself. 
In  1539  he,  with  great  joy,  tells  Farel  of  the  kind  words 
which  Luther  had  charged  Bucer  to  transmit  to  him. 
"Bucer, "  he  says,  "has  received  from  Luther  a  letter  in 
which  are  these  words:  'Salute  from  me  Calvin,  whose 
works  I  have  read  with  singular  pleasure.'  "  Calvin 
asked  with  no  less  joy,  "Behold  the  candor  of  Luther! 
"Why,  then,  are  these  people  who  separate  from  him  so 
obstinate?"     In  another  letter  Luther  speaks  of  Cal- 


44  JOHN   CALVIN. 

viii  as  "a  man  of  excelleut  capacity."  During  the  con 
troversy  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  Calvin  v^rites  to  Bul- 
linger,  the  successor  of  Zwingli,  ''I  conjure  thee  never 
to  forget  how  eminent  a  man  Luther  is,  and  with  what 
gifts  he  is  endowed.  Think  with  what  strength  of  soul, 
what  immovable  perseverance,  what  potency  of  doctrine, 
he  has  devoted  himself  till  now  to  the  overthrowing 
of  Anti-Christ.  As  for  me,  I  have  often  said,  and  I  still 
repeat  it,  if  he  were  to  call  me  a  devil,  I  should  not 
cease  to  hold  him  in  great  esteem,  and  to  acknowledge  in 
him  an  illustrious  servant  of  God."  And  some  months 
after,  he  writes  to  Luther  himself:  ''Farewell,  most  il- 
lustrious man,  eminent  minister  of  Christ,  father  forever 
venerable  to  me.  May  the  Lord  continue. to  direct  thee 
by  His  Spirit,  for  the  common  good  of  His  Church." 
Calvin  constantly  hoped  for  an  understanding  on  the 
question  of  the  Sacrament,  and  the  conviction  never  left 
him  that  if  Luther  had  lived  longer  and  both  men  had 
been  perrriitted  to  meet,  the  master  would  have  been 
more  accommodating  than  the  disciples. 


CHAPTER     X. 

CALVIN'S  MARRIAGE  AND   HOME   LIFE. 

Another  more  tender  interest  attaches  to  Calvin's 
sojourn  in  Strasburg.  It  was  here  that  Calvin  was 
married. 

The  reformer  was  past  thirty  years  of  age  when  he 
began  to  think  seriously  of  selecting  a  partner  in  life. 
Well-meaning  friends  of  his  had  thought  of  it  long  be- 
fore he  did.  This  is  evident  from  a  letter  to  his  co- 
worker, William  Farel,  in  w^hich  he  writes:  "Friends  are 
urging  me  to  marry  a  young  lady  of  a  noble  family, 
above  my  station  in  life  and  very  rich.  But  I  refused 
for  two  reasons:  first,  because  she  does  not  understand 
our  language  (French),  and,  secondly,  because  I  am 
afraid  that  she  might  think  too  much  of  her  noble  birth 
and  fine  education." 

When,  in  1539,  Calvin  came  to  Strasburg,  his  friends 
there  urged  him  still  more  to  select  a  wife.  He  assented, 
provided  they  would  find  him  a  suitable  partner,  re- 
serving, of  course,  to  himself  the  final  decision.  His 
ideal,  he  told  them,  was  not  a  beautiful  face  or  graceful 
form,  but  a  helpmeet  who  was  kind,  pure-hearted,  meek, 
frugal,  patient,  and  to  whom  the  care  for  her  husband 
would  be  the  first  consideration.  Very  likely  he  laid 
special  stress  on  this  latter  qualification,  because  his 
health  was  constantly  impaired.  In  this  vein  he  Avrote 
to  Farel :  ' '  Would  you  know  what  kind  of  beauty  could 
alone  win  my  soul?  It  is  kindness  and  modesty,  linked 
to  simplicity,  contentment  and  meekness." 

It  was  Idelette  de  Burre  who  came  up  to  this  ideal, 
and  this  fact  is  in  itself  sufficient  proof  of  her  noble 

45 


■46  JOHN   CALVIN. 

and  dignified  character,  and  it  also  explains  the  promi- 
nent position  she  holds  among  the  women  of  the  Re- 
formed Church.  When  Calvin  married  her,  she  had 
been  a  widow  with  several  children  for  some  years.  For 
conscience 's  sake  she  had  fled  from  Liege  and  afterwards 
married  Johann  Storder,  a  Baptist.  Later  on  both  were 
converted  to  the  Reformed  faith  by  Calvin 's  own  instru- 
mentality. He  therefore  knew  her  before  her  first  hus- 
band died.  But  in  her  widowed  state  she  led  such  a 
retired  life  that  Calvin  would  never  have  thought  of 
her,  if  Bucer,  who  also  knew  her  as  wife,  widow  and 
mother,  had  not  called  his  attention  to  her.  The  re- 
former proposed  to  her  and  was  accepted. 

The  marriage  took  place  on  August  1,  1540,  and 
proved  to  be  a  great  event.  Several  of  the  Swiss  cantons 
sent  delegates,  and  Calvin's  friends  from  France  were 
also  present.  He  was  very  happy  after  his  marriage,  for 
he  experienced  what  the  Bible  says:  "Whoso  findeth  a 
wife,  findeth  a  good  thing,  and  obtaineth  favor  of  the 
Lord."  (Prov.  18:  22.)  Their  mode  of  living  was  one 
of  extreme  simplicity  and  frugality.  When  Cardinal 
Sadolet  visited  Geneva,  he  desired  to  see  Calvin's 
"palace,"  and  his  surprise  was  great  when  he  was 
shown  to  the  little  and  insignificant  home  of  the  man 
whose  powerful  influence  was  felt  throughout  Europe. 
An  only  son  was  the  fruit  of  this  union,  and  he  died 
when  still  very  young. 

Soon  after  their  marriage,  Calvin  was  obliged  to  leave 
his  wife  in  order  to  attend  several  most  important  po- 
litical conferences  at  Hagenau  and  Worms,  to  which 
the  church  of  Strasburg  had  sent  him  as  a  delegate.  No 
sooner  had  he  left  his  home,  than  the  city  was  visited 
by  a  terrible  plague.  His  duty  to  the  vital  interests  of 
Protestantism  compelled  him  to  remain  at  these  confer- 


CALVIN  S  MARRIAGE  ANH  HOM  K  \AFK.  47 

ences,  instead  of,  as  his  heart  prompted  him,  returning 
to  his  family.  His  brother  Antoine,  in  whose  charge  he 
had  left  them,  fled  from  Strasbiirg,  and  Calvin  feared 
the  worst  for  his  wife.  He  wrote  to  a  friend:  ''Day  and 
night  my  wife  stands  before  me,  surrounded  by  all  the 
horrors  of  this  terrible  plague,  without  help  and  coun- 
sel, and  I,  her  husband,  far  away.  I  make  the  strongest 
efforts  to  banish  from  my  mind  this  consuming  agony 
by  taking  refuge  to  prayer."  The  Lord  granted  his 
prayers,  his  wife's  life  was  saved,  and  on  his  return,  the 
reunion  was  the  more  ,io.yful  and  affectionate  for  the 
danger  past. 

When  Calvin  was  recalled  to  Geneva,  Idelette  still 
more  revealed  the  qualities  of  a  faithful  and  devoted 
wife.  Her  ovm.  health  being  impaired,  she  was  never- 
theless a  devoted  nurse  in  her  husband's  oft-recvirring 
attacks  of  sickness.  She  tried  to  cheer  him  in  his  hours 
of  mental  depression  and  bodily  weakness.  Often  we 
find  her  at  his  bedside,  his  weary  head  in  her  arms,  sooth- 
ing the  painful  headaches  which  were  the  thorns  in  the 
flesh  of  the  great  reformer.  She  accompanied  him  in 
his  walks  through  the  park  of  the  city,  which  he  under- 
took but  too  rarely.  When  the  mob  of*  the  Libertines 
like  a  fury  roared  through  the  streets  of  Geneva,  so  that 
the  lives  of  the  ministers  were  in  great  danger,  she  re- 
tired to  her  room  and  bent  her  knees  in  fervent  prayer 
to  God  for  protection.  She  never  tired  of  visiting  the 
sick  and  comforting  the  afflicted  in  the  congregation. 
Her  house  was  an  ever  open  refuge  to  those  persecuted 
for  conscience's  sake.  In  all  this  she  was  herself  en- 
compassed by  many  trials  and  afflictions.  One  after  the 
other  of  her  children  were  taken  by  death.  She  wept 
for   her'  children   like    Rachel,    but  yet   differed    from 


48  JOHN    CALVIN. 

Rachel  for  she  was  comforted,  knowing  that  her  children 
were  with  the  Lord. 

After  nine  years  of  happy  married  life,  Idelette  Cal- 
vin was  called  to  her  reward.  In  1548  she  became  seri- 
ously ill.  For  three  years  previously  she  had  suffered 
from  a  slowly  consuming  fever,  which  at  last  broke  her 
doM'n  completely.  Her  husband  was  greatly  alarmed 
when  he  realized  the  imminent  danger  of  losing  her. 
In  spite  of  the  best  medical  treatment  and  care  she  rap- 
idly approached  her  end.  Only  one  thing  seemed  to 
trouble  her  exceedingly  the  nearer  that  end  came — the 
future  welfare  of  her  children  by  her  first  marriage. 
Calvin  noticed  this  and  readily  assured  her  that  he 
would  care  for  them  as  if  they  were  his  own  children. 
She  replied:  "I  have  committed  them  to  the  Lord,  and 
I  know  that  you  will  not  cast  out  what  I  have  committed 
to  Him,"  Thus  her  heart  was  relieved  of  its  last  care, 
and  now  she  waited  quietly  and  patiently  to  be  re- 
leased. In  spite  of  her  great  suffering,  her  countenance 
beamed  with  a  peace  which  reigned  in  her  heart.  One 
"morning  she  suddenly  exclaimed:  "0  glorious  resurrec- 
tion ; ' '  and  then  she  prayed  aloud :  "  0  God  of  Abraham 
and  of  all  our  fathers !  The  faithful  in  all  times  have 
put  their  trust  in  Thee,  and  have  never  been  confounded. 
I  also  trust  in  Thee,  vouchsafe  mercy  to  me  that  I  may 
do  so  to  the  end. ' '  On  the  evening  of  her  last  day,  after 
her  friends  had  tried  to  ease  her,  she  said  to  them: 
"Pray,  my  friends,  pray  for  me."  Calvin  bent  over 
her,  reminding  her,  though  with  trembling  voice,  of  the 
mercy  of  God  and  of  the  power  from  on  high,  which  is 
mighty  in  our  weakness,  as  well  as  of  the  glorious  eter- 
nity and  the  joys  of  heaven,  which  she  was  soon  to  in- 
herit. Then  he  prayed  with  her  for  the  last  time,  com- 
mitting her  to  Him  in  whom  both  believed.     At  nine 


Calvin's  marriage  and  home  mim:.  40 

o'clock  of  the  same  evening  she  fell  asleep,  peacefully 
and  calmly. 

Calvin  could  never  forget  his  Idelette,  and  he  never 
thought  of  filling  her  place  by  a  second  wife.  As  often 
as  he  mentioned  her  name,  a  certain  vibration  in  his 
voice  indicated  how  dear  she  had  been  to  him.  After 
her  departure  he  wrote  to  Viret:  "Because  you  know 
the  tenderness,  or  rather  the  weakness  of  my  heart,  you 
are  convinced  that  I  could  not  have  borne  this  pain  if 
I  had  not  concentrated  the  whole  power  of  my  soul  in 
God.  The  best  of  partners  has  been  taken  from  me. 
She  was  willing  to  share  with  me  banishment  and  want, 
and  would  have  gone  with  me  into  death.  She  was  also 
a  great  help  in  my  official  life. ' ' 

Idelette  Calvin  is  a  worthy  companion  to  Katharina 
von  Bora,  Luther's  wife,  and  to  Anna  Reinhart, 
Zwingli  's  wife.  That  we  know  comparatively  so  little  of 
her  individual  life  is  no  doubt  due,  as  d'Aubigne  cor- 
rectly remarks,  to  the  fact  that  Calvin  did  not  write 
nearly  as  much  and  so  frequently  of  his  wife  as  Luther 
did  of  his  "Kaethe. "  Nevertheless  she  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  as  dear  to  him ;  and  for  this  reason  it  is  proper 
that  we  should  also  cherish  her  memory  as  the  faithful 
life-partner  of  the  great  John  Calvin. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

RECALL  TO  GENEVA  AND  RECONSTRUCTION 
WORK. 

Geneva,  by  this  time,  had  bitterly  repented  its  treat- 
ment of  its  faithful  preachers.  Only  disorder  had  reign- 
ed since  their  departure.  The  citizens  had  had  a  taste 
of  Libertine  rule,  and  did  not  relish  it.  All  was  laxity, 
powerlessness  and  anarchy.  The  teachers  had  refused 
to  carry  out  the  command  of  the  enemies  of  Calvin  to 
administer  the  Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  Bernese 
rite,  and  were  also  banished  and  the  schools  closed.  The 
Libertines,  in  March,  1539,  went  up  to  the  town  hall 
demanding  to  be  released  from  the  moral  part  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  which  they  had  sworn  to  under 
Calvin.  Romish  priests  began  saying  mass  in  private 
houses.  Laws  were  set  at  nought.  The  grossest  licen- 
tiousness prevailed.  Of  the  four  syndics  who  expelled 
Calvin,  one  was  found  guilty  of  promoting  an  insurrec- 
tion, and  endeavoring  to  escape  through  a  window,  fell 
and  broke  his  neck.  Another  was  accused  of  murder 
and  beheaded.  Two  others,  guilty  of  treason,  were 
obliged  to  flee.  No  power  existed  in  the  city  itself,  ca- 
pable of  restoring  order,  and  soon  the  cry  arose  from  the 
government,  the  pastors  and  the  people,  to  bring  Calvin 
back. 

But  although  his  heart  was  in  Geneva,  Calvin  hesi- 
tated to  return.  ''"Why  not  rather  submit  to  be  cruci- 
fied ? "  he  says  in  one  of  his  letters,  * '  It  would  be  better 
to  perish  at  once  than  to  be  tormented  to  death  in  that 
chamber  of  torture."  Farel,  who  had  found  congenial 
work  at  Neuchatel,  urged  him  to  return.     The  minutes 

50 


RECALL  TO  (;i:m;va.  51 

of  the  Genevan  council  are  full  of  items  showing  tlu; 
progress  which  was  made  in  getting  Calvin  to  come 
back.  On  Sept.  21,  1540,  Perrin  is  charged  "to  find 
means  to  bring  back  Master  Calvin."  On  October  13th 
it  was  resolved  to  write  a  letter  "to  Monsieur  Calvin 
that  he  would  assist  us,"  and  to  ask  the  pastors  in  Stras- 
burg  to  influence  him  to  return.  On.  Oct.  19th  it  was 
resolved  "in  order  that  the  honor  and  glory  of  God  may 
be  promoted  to  seek  all  possible  means  to  have  Master 
Calvin  as  preacher."  On  October  20th,  they  ordered 
a  delegation  sent  to  Strasburg  "to  fetch  Master  Jean 
Calvinus,  who  is  very  learned,  to  be  minister  in  this 
city." 

At  length  he  consented,  and  re-entered  Geneva  on 
Sept.  13,  1541,  amidst  general  popular  enthusiasm. 
Twenty-three  years  more  were  given  him  to  labor  among 
this  gifted  people  on  the  beautiful  Lake  Leman.  The 
magistrate  provided  him  with  a  house  and  garden,  gave 
him  cloth  for  a  coat,  and  voted  him  a  salary  of  500 
florins,  twelve  measures  of  wheat  and  two  tuns  of  wine. 

The  next  five  years  of  his  life,  from  1541  to  1546,  were, 
on  the  whole,  peaceful  and  serene.  They  may  be  termed 
the  period  of  reconstruction.  A  new  constitution,  em- 
bracing the  life  of  the  people  in  Church  and  State,  was 
introduced  and  perfected.  A  Christian  republic,  bear- 
ing the  character  of  a  "theocracy"  Avas  established, — 
that  is,  a  State  whose  ruler  is  God,  and  in  which  God's 
will  is  to  be  done — no  doubt  a  grand  conception !  Con- 
structing the  Genevan  republic  under  the  guidance  of 
this  idea,  Calvin  was  instrumental  in  having  enacted 
three  codes  of  laws,  a  revised  form  of  Church  govern- 
ment, a  new  code  of  civil  laws  and  the  famous  "Eccle- 
siastical Ordinances,"  a  code  of  morals,  for  which  he  is 
best  ImoAATi.    It  laid  down  rules  for  the  regulation  of  the 


52  JOHN  CAT;VIN. 

life  of  the  citizens  of  Geneva,  entering  minutely  into 
social  and  even  domestic  details,  but  especially  aiming 
at  the  suppression  of  the  darker  vices — profanity,  drink- 
ing, gambling,  lewdness  and  the  like.  This  code  un- 
doubtedly went  too  far  in  interfering  with  individual 
liberty,  but  to  view  this  matter  in  a  historical  spirit,  it 
is  important  to  remember  that  the  "go-as-you-please" 
doctrine  of  government  is  essentially  modern.  Sumptu- 
ary laws  regulating  the  details  of  life  were  not  peculiar 
to  Geneva.  They  were  in  great  favor  in  England  from 
the  time  of  Edward  III  down  to  the  Reformation.  One 
law  under  that  King  enacts  that  no  man  of  whatever 
condition  or  estate,  shall  be  allowed  more  than  two 
courses  at  dinner  or  supper  or  more  than  two  kinds  of 
food  in  each  course,  except  on  the  principal  festivals 
of  the  year,  when  three  courses  at  the  utmost  are  to  be 
allowed.  All  who  did  not  enjoy  a  free  estate  of  five 
himdred  dollars  for  a  year  were  prohibited  from  wear- 
ing fur,  skins  or  silk,  and  the  use  of  foreign  cloth  was 
allowed  to  the  royal  family  alone.  It  must  also  be  re- 
membered that  most  of  the  provisions  of  Calvin 's  ' '  Ordi- 
nances" were  based  on  existing  laws.  "It  can  be 
shown,"  says  Dr.  Hagenbach,  "that  strict  prohibitions 
against  cursing  and  blaspheming,  against  games  of 
chance,  masquerades,  dances,  magnificence  in  dress,  etc., 
had  been  issued  by  the  Genevan  government  as  early  as 
the  fifteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  that  Calvin,  consequently,  cannot  be  regarded  as  the 
originator  of  such  laws."  Calvin  drafted  the  code,  but 
the  council  revised  and  amended  it.  Calvin,  therefore, 
cannot  fairly  be  held  responsible  for  everything  the  code 
contains.  Dr.  Lindsay,  in  his  "History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion," quotes  a  long  list  of  laws  showing  that  the  citizens 
of  every  mediaeval  town  lived  under  a  municipal  dis- 


RECALT.  TO   GENEVA.  53 

eipline  which  we  would  pronounce  vexatious  and  des- 
potic. He  continues:  "Every  instance  quoted  by  mod- 
ern historians  to  prove,  as  they  think,  Calvin's  despotic 
interference  with  the  details  of  private  life,  can  be 
paralleled  by  references  to  the  police  books  of  mediaeval 
towns  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  To  make 
them  ground  of  accusation  against  Calvin  is  simply  to 
plead  ignorance  of  the  whole  municipal  police  of  the  later 
Middle  Ages.  To  say  that  Calvin  acquiesced  in  or  ap- 
proved of  such  legislation  is  simply  to  show  that  he  be- 
longed to  the  sixteenth  century.'' 

The  Church  Constitution  provides  for  four  kinds 
of  officers, — namely,  pastors,  teachers,  elders  and  dea- 
cons. The  rights  and  duties  of  each  group  are  carefully 
described.  The  city  was  divided  into  parishes,  and  a 
pastor  was  allotted  to  each.  Baptism  was  administered 
only  by  the  pastor;  godfathers  were  refused  if  they  were 
notoriously  of  a  Avorldly-minded  spirit,  not  being  in  a 
state  to  promise  to  the  Church  to  be  spiritually  a  father 
to  the  child.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  to  be  celebrated 
in  the  churches  only — four  times  a  year,  at  Easter,  at 
"Whitsuntide,  the  first  Sunday  in  September,  and  the 
Sunday  nearest  Christmas  day.  Only  the  Sabbath,  be- 
cause of  divine  institution,  was  observed;  the  holy  days 
of  the  church  year,  even  Christmas  day  and  Easter,  were 
disregarded.  Every  child  was  to  attend  regular  cate- 
chisation  until,  when  sufficiently  instructed,  he  was  ad- 
mitted, "in  presence  of  the  Church  to  make  profession 
of  his  Christianity."  It  Avas  absolutely  forbidden  to  ap- 
proach the  Lord's  table  before  eatechisation.  Calvin 
draws  a  clear  distinction  between  the  Roman  Catholic 
and  the  Episcopal  idea  of  confirmation,  and  the  con- 
ception of  the  Reformed  Church  concerning  this  ancient 
rite,  when,  in  the  fourth  book  of  his  "Institutes."  he 


54  JOHN    CALVIN. 

writes  as  follows:  "It  was  anciently  customary  for  the 
children  of  Christians,  after  they  had  grown  up, 
to  appear  before  the  chief  pastor  and  people,  to  fulfill 
that  duty  which  was  required  of  such  adults  as  pre- 
sented themselves  for  baptism.  The  infants,  therefore, 
who  had  been  initiated  by  baptism,  not  having  then 
given  a  confession  of  faith  to  the  Church,  were  again, 
toward  the  end  of  their  boyhood,  or  on  adolescence, 
brought  forward  b}^  their  parents,  and  were  examined 
by  the  pastor  in  terms  of  the  Catechism  which  was  then 
in  common  use.  In  order  that  this  act,  which  otherwise 
justly  required  to  be  grave  and  holy,  might  have  more 
reverence  and  dignity,  the  ceremony  of  laying  on  of 
hands  was  used."  Then,  having  argued  against  the 
papal  and  prelatical  perversion  of  this  primitive  rite, 
Calvin  continued:  "I  wish  we  could  retain  the  custom 
of  confirmation,  which,  as  I  have  observed,  existed  in  the 
early  church  before  this  abortive  mask  of  a  sacrament 
appeared. ' ' 

The  Constitution  also  orders  that  a  yearly  visitation 
should  be  made  from  house  to  house,  to  examine  every 
one  as  to  his  faith,  in  order  that  no  one  may  come  to 
the  Lord's  Supper  without  knowing  what  is  the  founda- 
tion of  his  salvation.  The  visit  is  to  be  made  in  each 
parish  before  Easter,  by  the  pastor  accompanied  by  an 
elder,  and  by  the  ''tithing  man"  of  the  district.  The 
pastor,  is  to  visit  the  sick  all  the  year  round;  in  order 
''that  no  one  may  die  without  admonition  or  instruction, 
which  is  then  more  necessary  than  ever  to  a  man."  A 
weekly  visit  is  also  to  be  paid  to  the  prisoners  by  the 
pastor. 

Calvin  was  the  friend  of  a  plain  but  orderly  andi 
solemn  form  of  worship.  The  liturgy  which  bears  his; 
name  has  been  composed  from  material  of  the  forms  of 


RECALL  TO   GENEVA.  55 

worship  used  in  Strasburg  and  other  places.  He  is  in  favor 
of  brief  prayers.  "It  is  better  to  pray  at  length  in  pri- 
vate and  briefly  in  the  assemblies.  If  thou  expecte^t 
from  all  an  ardor  equal  to  thine  own,  thou  art  mis- 
taken." He  favored  the  singing  of  the  psalms,  which 
was  deemed  so  important,  that  it  became  almost  a  kind 
of  profession  of  faith ;  ' '  psalm-singer ' '  and  ' '  Reformed ' ' 
were  almost  synonymous  words  in  France.  Marot's 
psalms  were  first  used  in  1548.  The  Psalter  was  aug- 
mented by  Beza.  But  Calvin  insisted  upon  having  the 
exact  prose  translation  of  the  Hebrew  text,  printed  at 
the  foot  of  the  page.  He  did  not  wish  to  have  attributed 
to  the  Psalmist  what  resulted  perhaps  from  the  exigencies 
of  versification. 

Every  preacher  was  at  first  appointed  to  his  owti  spe- 
cial church  building.  In  August,  1542,  Calvin  decided 
that  they  should  all  preach  in  turn  in  all  the  city  pul- 
pits, "in  order  that  the  people  might  be  better  edified, 
and  might  profit  by  all  the  ministers."  It  was  also 
in  strict  conformity  to  the  apostolic  principle  of  the 
equality  of  the  pastors,  that  neither  title  nor  official 
privilege  ever  distinguished  one  pastor  from  the  other. 
Calvin  was  not  in  favor  of  long  sermons.  "There  is  one 
thing  of  which  I  would  speak  to  thee,"  he  writes  one 
day  to  Farel.  "It  is  said  that  the  length  of  thy  sermons 
is  a  subject  of  complaint.  Thou  hast  told  me  thyself 
more  than  once,  that  thou  wouldst  take  heed  thereto; 
forget  it  not,  I  pray  thee.  And  since  it  is  not  for  our 
o^Ti  edification  that  the  Lord  calls  upon  us  to  ascend 
the  pulpit,  but  for  that  of  the  people,  it  is  incumbent 
on  thee  to  moderate  thyself  in  such  a  way  that  the  Word 
of  God  may  not  have  to  suffer,  because  thou  hast  wearied 
them."    Calvin  preferred  the  topical  method  of  preach- 


56  JOHN   CALVIN. 

ing,  which  requires  the  choosing  of  a  definite  subject  for 
each  sermon. 

In  the  civil  department,  Calvin  undertook  the  revision 
of  the  laws,  some  of  which  dated  from  ancient  times. 
Under  his  oversight,  the  laws  and  edicts  of  the  State 
were  collected,  such  changes  were  made  on  them  as  were 
necessary,  and  the  whole  was  reduced  to  a  well-digested 
code. 

The  judicatories  instituted  by  Calvin  to  enforce  these 
laws  were  the  secular  councils  and  the  church  consistory, 
the  latter  being  a  new  court,  composed  of  the  pastors 
and  twelve  laymen,  the  latter  to  be  appointed  by  the 
councils  to  form  the  link  between  the  two  jurisdictions. 
That  part  of  Calvin's  reformatory  work  which  had  to 
do  with  the  consistory  and  its  functions  exerted  a  tre- 
mendous influence  on  all  the  Reformed  Churches  in  all 
sections  of  the  world,  and  indirectly  on  civil  govern- 
ment, an  influence  which  is  felt  to  this  very  day.  The 
logical  copsequence  of  Calvin's  principles  of  govern- 
ment would  lead  to  an  entire  separation  of  Church  and 
State.  The  American  churches  have  followed  out  his 
ideas  to  their  legitimate  conclusion,  but  Calvin's  sub- 
lime conception  of  a  theocracy  did  not  allow  him  to 
draw  the  inevitable  consequences  which  his  premises  de- 
manded. It  was  only  recently,  June  30th,  1907,  at  a  ref- 
erendum demanded,  it  is  true,  by  the  socialists,  that 
Geneva  severed  the  connection  between  Church  and  State 
which  had  existed  for  over  a  thousand  years  under  vari- 
ous forms. 


CHAP  T  K  li     XII. 

RENEWED  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES. 

Calvin's  struggles  vvci'c  uot  at  an  end.  After  five 
years  of  peace,  in  1546,  Libertinism  reared  up  its  head 
again,  and  with  brief  intermissions  the  conflict  lasted 
fully  nine  years,  during  which  period  Calvin  Avas  in  con- 
stant danger  of  being  expelled  again.  This  time  Liber- 
tinism is  seen  in  darker  colors  than  before.  It  now  ap- 
peared in  connection  with  Pantheistic  and  Atheistic  doc- 
trines, breathing  a  fierce  hatred  of  Christ,  and  openly 
justifying  the  most  shameless  immorality.  "The  Liber- 
tines or  Spirituals,"  says  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  "combined  a 
Pantheistic  creed  with  licentiousness  and  free-lovism, 
and  anticipated  the  worst  forms  of  modern  infidelity 
to  the  extent  of  declaring  the  gospel  a  tissue  of  lies  of 
less  value  than  Aesop's  fables.  Their  leader  was  Perrin, 
the  captain-general,  a  former  friend  of  Calvin's,  but  now 
on  account  of  some  proceedings  taken  against  his  Avife's 
relations,  the  reformer's  bitterest  enemy.  Perrin  de- 
manded that  the  council  should  deprive  the  consistory 
of  its  power  of  excommunication  and  should  take  that 
power  in  its  oa\ti  hands.  After  several  failures,  he  was 
elected  First  Syndic  and  the  old  complaint  was  renewed. 
Calvin  behaved  with  great  courage.  He  presented  him- 
self in  1547  before  the  Council  of  the  Two  Hundred,  and 
facing  the  drawn  swords  of  his  enemies,  said,  "If  it  is 
my  life  you  desire,  I  am  ready  to  die.  If  it  is  my  ban- 
ishment you  wish,  I  shall  exile  myself.  If  you  desire 
once  more  to  save  Geneva  without  the  Gospel,  you  can 
try."    This  ended  the  matter  for  the  time. 

A  second  crisis  in  the  struggle  with  the  Libertines  was 

57 


58  JOHN   CALVIN. 

in  1553.  Calvin's  influence  in  this  year  was  at  its  low- 
est ebb.  Popular  feeling  ran  strongly  against  him.  His 
enemies,  insolent  in  their  triumph,  ' '  resorted  to  personal 
indignities  and  every  device  of  intimidation ;  they  named 
the  very  dogs  of  the  street  after  him;  they  once  fired 
fifty  shots  before  his  bed  chamber ;  they  threatened  him 
in  the  pulpit.  At  this  time  a  Libertine  by  the  name  of 
Berthelier  appeared  before  the  council,  asking  it  to 
rescind  a  sentence  of  excommunication  passed  upon  him 
by  the  consistory.  Calvin  withstood  him,  but  Perrin's 
influence  prevailed,  and  the  council  reversed  the  sentence 
as  desired.  It  went  further,  and  transferred  the  power 
of  excommunication  from  the  consistory  to  the  council. 
This  decision  was  ratified  in  the  popular  assembly.  The 
next  Sabbath  was  the  day  of  communion  in  St.  Peter's 
Cathedral.  Curiosity  was  strung  to  its  highest  pitch,  for 
Berthelier  was  expected  to  present  himself,  bearing  the 
warrant  he  had  received  from  the  council.  A  French 
biographer  of  Calvin  gives  the  following  graphic  de- 
scription of  the  occasion.  ''On  the  third  of  September, 
at  the  customary  hour,  Calvin  ascended  the  pulpit  of  the 
ancient  cathedral.  He  perceived  in  the  audience  the 
insolent  group  of  Libertines,  perhaps  already  ill  at  ease 
because  they  felt  themselves  isolated  in  the  midst  of  the 
crowded  congregation,  and  with  Calvin  in  front  of  them. 
But  the  reformer  did  not  seem  to  see  them.  As  calm 
as  ever,  externally  at  least,  he  preached  upon  the  state 
of  mind  with  which  the  Lord's  Table  ought  to  be  ap- 
proached. Then  he  added,  'As  for  me,  so  long  as  God 
shall  leave  me  here,  I  will  employ  the  fortitude  which  He 
gave  me,  whatever  betide,  and  I  will  guide  myself,  by 
my  Master's  rule,  which  is  to  me  clear  and  well-known. 
As  we  are  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper,  if  any  one  to 
whom  it  has  been  forbidden  by  the  consistory,  should 


00  JOHN   CALVIN. 

seek  to  intrude  himself  at  this  table,  I  would  certainly 
show  myself,  as  long  as  I  live,  such  as  I  ought  to  be.' 
When  the  liturgy  was  concluded,  he  came  down  from  the 
pulpit  and  set  apart  the  bread  and  wine  by  prayer. 
When  the  moment  arrived  to  dispense  the  sacred  ele- 
ments, the  Libertines  made  a  move  forward  as  if  to 
seize  the  bread  and  cup.  Then,  covering  the  sacred 
symbols  with  his  hands,  he  exclaimed — 'You  may  cut 
these  hands,  and  crush  these  limbs ;  my  blood  is  yours — 
shed  it !  But  you  shall  never  force  me  to  give  holy 
things  to  the  profane.'  The  Libertines  paused  in  their 
rush  toward  the  Communion  Table.  They  looked  at 
each  other — they  looked  around.  An  indignant  murmur 
circulated  through  the  crowd,  and  but  for  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  spot,  the  murmur  would  have  become  an  out- 
cry. The  voice  of  the  people  was  for  Calvin.  The  Liber- 
tines hesitated  for  a  moment  longer,  and  then  fell  back. 
They  were  overawed  by  the  personality  of  the  great  re- 
former. The  crowd  opened  a  passage  for  their  retreat, 
and  the  sacrament  was  adminstered  to  the  believers,  who 
were  still  agitated,  but  proud  of  their  pastor,  and  re- 
joicing in  his  victory." 

Calvin  expected  to  be  banished,  and  openly  said  so 
in  his  afternoon  sermon  of  the  same  day.  ''It  is  per- 
haps for  the  last  time,"  he  said,  "that  I  am  speaking 
to  the  people  of  Geneva.  Firmly  resolved  to  do  noth- 
ing that  is  not  according  to  the  will  of  God,  I  will  never- 
theless stay  as  long  as  I  can  make  my  voice  heard;  but 
if  I  be  compelled  to  hold  my  peace,  I  will  depart. ' '  lie 
had  taken  for  his  text  the  farewell  address  of  Saint  Paul 
to  the  elders  of  Ephesus.  He  repeated,  in  the  midst  of 
his  weeping  congregation,  the  words  of  the  apostle:  "I 
commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace." 
He  went  home  to  await  the  decree  of  exile ;  but  it  never 


KENEWED  CONFMCT   WITH  TllK  IJHERTINES.  61 

came.     He   soon   perceived   that   ou    the    contrary,   his 
position  was  improved. 

The  final  conflict  was  in  1555.  The  spiritual  su- 
premacy had  by  this  time  been  restored  to  the  consistory. 
The  opposition  of  the  Libertines  was  now  directed 
against  the  large  number  of  refugees  who  flocked  to 
hospitable  Geneva  from  many  countries,  among  whom 
was  John  Knox,  from  Scotland.  As  a  century  later, 
when  the  fugitive  Huguenots  became  a  blessing  to  all 
the  countries  which  received  them,  so,  in  Calvin's  days, 
this  was  the  case  with  the  fugitives  arriving  at  Geneva. 
"  If , "  as  a  historian  says,  ' '  the  true  citizen  of  a  country 
is  not  he  who  is  born  in  that  country,  but  the  man  who, 
whether  a  citizen  by  birth  or  not,  understands  the  con- 
ditions of  its  national  existence  and  greatness,  and  there- 
fore labors  and  combats,  perseveres,  loves  and  devotes 
himself — if  this  is  true,  then  certainly  the  refugees  were 
citizens  of  Geneva,  and  Geneva  had  none  better."  Their 
two  greatest  men  and  benefactors  were  foreign  born. 
Farel  was  not  a  native  citizen  of  Geneva,  though  the 
true  representatives  of  the  city  had  justly  saluted  him 
with  the  name  of  "father."  Calvin  was  a  Frenchman 
by  birth  and  received  citizenship  in  1559,  only  five 
years  before  his  death,  but  no  one  doubts  that  he  was 
the  greatest  citizen  of  Geneva,  and  its  real  benefactor. 
The  Libertines  were  against  the  refugees,  because  they 
saw  in  them  only  the  agents  of  Calvin,  and  because  they 
understood  nothing  of  the  Christian  heroism  which  had 
made  them  relinquish  castles,  and  money,  and  rank,  and 
large  estates,  for  conscience'  sake  to  become  the  citizens 
of  a  little  republic,  and  to  submit  to  those  stern  ordi- 
nances which  many  native  citizens  refused.  The  Liber- 
tines lavished  upon  the  exiles  raillery  and  insult.  Those 
wlio  had  saved  no  part  of  their  fortune  were  reproached 


62  JOHN   CALVIN. 

for  eating  the  bread  of  hospitality;  against  those  who 
gained  their  livelihood  by  labor,  the  Libertines  endeav- 
ored to  stir  up  the  workmen  and  traders  of  Geneva. 
Those  of  the  refugees  who  had  brought  money  with 
them,  were  represented  as  coming  to  buy  over  or  to  be- 
tray the  republic  to  the  King  of  France.  This  accusa- 
tion was  the  more  ridiculous,  as  the  French  King  at  that 
very  time  was  bathing  himself  in  the  blood  of  their 
brethren.  In  April,  1553,  Perrin  demanded  that  their 
weapons  should  be  taken  away,  with  the  exception  of 
their  swords,  which,  however,  they  were  not  to  wear 
in  public.  In  July,  1554,  he  demanded  that  even  their 
swords  should  be  taken  away.  Perrin  was  called  upon  to 
produce  proofs  of  his  slander  against  the  refugees, 
which  he  could  not  furnish.  The  Libertines  now  had 
recourse  to  conspiracy.  The  infamous  "Tavern  House 
Plot"  was  formed,  for  the  massacre  of  all  refugees  in 
the  city.  The  following  description  is  given:  "On  the 
18th  of  May,  in  the  evening,  Berthelier,  Perrin,  and  two 
other  heads  of  the  party,  met  in  a  tavern  with  a  number 
of  other  Libertines.  After  their  tongue  had  performed 
its  part,  wine  provoked  their  feet  and  hands  to  do  their 
part.  Perrin,  however,  had  not  yet  made  up  his  mind. 
His  companions  flattered  him,  saying  that  the  people 
depended  upon  him,  and  that  it  was  he  whom  they 
expected  to  see  at  the  head  of  the  movement.  He 
yielded,  and  soon  the  revolt  was  in  full  progress.  But 
it  did  not  last  long.  The  conspirators  did  not  find  the 
support  which  they  had  hoped  for.  In  vain  did  they 
have  it  proclaimed  that  the  refugees  were  going  to  sack 
the  town;  the  citizens  stirred  not.  There  were  a  few 
murderous  encounters  but  the  troops  swept  down  all 
that  offered  resistance.  Several  of  the  Libertines  were 
executed.    Perrin  succeeded  in  escaping.     Many  others 


KENEWED  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES.  63 

also  tied  and  the  rest  were  banished.  From  this  period 
on,  Geneva  had  rest.  Thus  ended  the  conflict  with  the 
Libertines. 

In  justice  to  Calvin's  enemies,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered how  unbearably  galling  it  must  have  been  to  the 
freer  spirits  in  the  republic — many  of  them  belonging 
to  old  native  families  and  accustomed  to  hold  their  heads 
high  among  the  citizens — to  find  themselves  suddenly 
stopped  in  a  career  of  pleasure,  and  put  under  Calvin's 
moral  yoke — forbidden  the  wine  shop,  the  card  table,  the 
revel,  rigorously  limited  in  dress  and  manner  of  living, 
compelled  to  attend  services  in  which  their  vices  were 
unsparingly  castigated,  and  required,  on  pain  of  hu- 
miliation, to  yield  unquestioning  obedience  to  the  dic- 
tates of  the  consistory.  They  saw,  as  they  thought,  a 
new  popery  established  in  their  midst — ^they  rebelled, 
that  they,  the  children  of  the  soil  should  be  subjected  to 
this  tyranny  by  an  alien ;  they  beheld  the  city  filling 
up  with  refugees,  and  they  clamored  that  the  native  in- 
fluence was  being  weakened;  the  magistrates  were  jeal- 
ous of  a  power  which  they  saw  growing  up  in  the  state, 
rivalling  their  own.  Yet  it  must  be  repeated  that  Cal- 
vin's discipline  proved  wholesome  for  Geneva,  and  made 
it  not  only  during  Calvin's  lifetime,  but  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years  after  his  death  a  shining  light  as  to 
morality,  religion,  material  prosperity,  art  and  sciences. 
Calvin  saved  Geneva  and  the  Reformation,  for  a  Geneva 
given  up  to  the  Libertines  would  have  been  a  Geneva 
steeped  in  vice  and  a  Geneva  soon  reconquered  by  her 
former  Roman  masters. 

This  last  period  of  conflict  with  the  Libertines,  lasting 
nine  years,  from  1546  to  1551,  were  the  most  annoying 
and  wearing  years  of  Calvin's  life,  on  account  of  the  in- 
numerable petty  insults  and  attacks  to  which  he  was 


64  JOHN   CALVIN. 

exposed.  ' '  It  were  better  for  me, ' '  he  wrote  in  1555,  ' '  to 
be  burned  once  for  all  by  the  papists  than  to  be  thus 
incessantly  tortured  by  this  people.  Only  one  thing 
supports  me  in  this  hard  service;  it  is  that  death  will 
soon  come  and  give  me  my  discharge."  A  French  bi- 
ographer of  Calvin  characterizes  this  period  as  follows: 
"Choose  any  one  day  in  the  course  of  these  nine  years 
and  go  to  Geneva  to  see  Calvin.  You  come  to  visit  a 
reformer,  the  man  whose  name  fills  Europe,  and  you  will 
certainly  find  him,  but  do  you  know  what  you  will  also 
find?  A  man  who  is  hunted  by  the  most  ignoble  vexa- 
tions, and  whom  some  annoy  at  their  pleasure  by  the 
grossest  petty  insults.  Accompany  him  through  the 
streets,  and  you  will  hear  the  hisses  of  which  he  has 
spoken  to  you.  The  dog  which  has  just  run  between 
his  legs  is  called  back  by  his  master  crying  out,  'Cal- 
vin ! '  The  animal  obeys,  for  that  is  his  name.  While 
he  is  crossing  the  bridge  over  the  beautiful  blue  Rhone, 
he  is  almost  thrown  down  by  three  worthless  fellows 
who  pretend  not  to  see  him ;  just  as  Perrin  's  wife,  when 
riding  out  of  town  on  horseback  yesterday,  knocked 
down  another  pastor  who  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 
Walk  some  evening  under  his  window,  and  it  will  be  a 
wonder  if  you  do  not  meet  some  drunken  Libertine 
bawling  out  some  insult,  or  singing  some  infamous  song. 
Last  Thursday  in  the  consistory  he  had  to  endure  the 
sarcasm  of  some  youth,  or  man,  or  woman,  or  girl,  who 
will  indeed  be  punished,  but  who  has  sworn  to  do  the 
same  thing  again.  Next  Thursday  he  will  hear  as  bad 
things, — if  not  worse.  And  all  this  is  but  the  mere 
accompaniment  of  the  most  serious  anxieties  at  home 
and  abroad, — the  meditations  of  a  writer,  the  care  of 
immense  correspondence,  the  fatigues  of  the  pastor  and 
the  preacher,  the  sufferings  and  the  agony  of  a  sick  man. 


RENEWED  COXFIJCT  WITH  THE  LIBERTINES.  65 

The  bare  thought  of  it  all  brings  on  a  sensation  of  giddi- 
ness, yet  it  must  be  thought  of,  if  we  would  not  be  unjust 
towards  him,  whose  irritated  nerves  caused  him  more 
than  once  to  write  or  to  do  what  we  should  have  pre- 
ferred he  had  neither  written  nor  done." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CONTROVERSY  WITH   SERVETUS. 

The  reformation  age  was  a  period  of  great  doctrinal 
controversies.  In  Calvin's  life  we  are  interested  espe- 
cially in  his  conflict  with  Michael  Servetus,  because  this 
episode  has  left  a  stain  of  reproach  upon  his  memory, 
and  has  been  very  much  magnified  by  Calvin's  op- 
ponents, both  ancient  and  modern.  To  his  entire  age, 
not  only  to  Calvin,  Servetus  was  a  monster  and  blas- 
phemer of  the  worst  kind.  He  was  a  Spanish  physi- 
cian, who,  in  1531,  had  published  a  work  against  the 
Trinity  and  other  books.  He  was  a  man  of  undoubted 
talent,  but  his  genius  was  erratic,  his  mind  restless  and 
his  way  of  dealing  with  Divine  things  daring  and  irrev- 
erent. In  his  writings,  he  denied  the  Deity  of  Christ 
and  consequently  the  Trinity.  He  was  a  pantheist,  deny- 
ing the  personality  of  God,  asserting  that  every  particle 
of  matter  was  of  the  divine  essence.  An  example  of 
his  levity  may  be  found  in  one  passage-at-arms  between 
him  and  Calvin  before  the  Council.  "What,"  said  Cal- 
vin, "if  one  were  to  strike  this  pavement  with  his  foot, 
wouldst  thou  not  be  horrified  at  having  subjected  the 
majesty  of  God  to  such  treatment!"  Servetus  replied, 
"I  have  no  doubt  that  this  bench,  this  cupboard  are  the 
substance  of  God."  When  it  was  suggested  to  him, 
' '  Then  will  the  devil  actually  be  God, ' '  he  answered  with 
a  peal  of  laughter,  "And  can  you  doubt  it!  All  things 
are  part  and  parcel  of  God. ' '  The  idea  of  a  triune  God 
he  compared  to  the  three-headed  Cerberus,  the  monster 
in  the  imderworld  of  the  Greeks. 

Sentiments  like  these  in  Calvin's  days  were,  both  by 

GG 


COXTKOVEKSV    WITH    SEHVKTUS.  67 

Protestants  and  Catholics,  held  to  be  justly  punishable 
by    death.      All    reformers   upheld   the    principle   that 
lieresy  should  be  suppressed  by  the  civil  power.     With 
the  enlightenment   which   350  years   have   brought  us, 
Protestants  believe  to-day  that  the  fathers  were  wrong; 
yet  to  do  justice  to  Calvin  this  well-known  fact  must  be 
remembered.    Only  in  two  ways  did  the  reformers  them- 
selves already  modify  this  old  principle,  derived  from 
the  Roman  Church.     First,  mere  opinion  was  not  to  be 
punished,  but  only  the  active  diffusion  of  errors;  and, 
second,  forbearance  was  to  be  shown  to  minor  aberra- 
tions.   That  Calvin  acted  on  the  principle  as  thus  modi- 
fied, and  was  not  in  spirit  a  persecutor,  is  shouTi  by  his 
friendly  relations  with  Socinus,  the  father  of  Unitarian- 
ism,  and  others  of  free-thinking  tendencies,  in  whom  he 
thought  he  discerned  an  earnest  disposition  for  the  truth. 
On  the  other  hand,  unjustly  as  we,  from  the  twentieth 
century  standpoint,  may  think  Servetus  to  have  been 
treated,  the  Avell-known  fact  must  not  be  overlooked  that 
he  was  not  a  man  for  Avhose  character  it  is  possible  to 
feel  much  respect.    His  career  was  one  of  long-continued 
dissimulation.     In  his  trial  at  Vienne,  France,  he  re- 
sorted to  false  statements  in  regard  to  almost  every  par- 
ticular in  his  history,  so  that  the   Romanists  of  that 
city  would  have  put  him  to  death,  had  he  not  fled  from 
prison.     At  Geneva,  the  same  arts  of  deception  were 
tried.     He  was,  therefore,  a  man  without  moral  back- 
bone, and  cannot  command  our  respect,  much  as  he  may 
win  our  sympathy. 

It  must  also  be  kept  in  mind  that  Servetus,  although 
forewarned  by  Calvin,  insisted  on  coming  to  Geneva, 
because  he  knew  of  the  temporary  triumph  of  the  Liber- 
tines in  the  council,  by  whose  aid  he  Avas  confident  of 
gaining  a  victory.     Calvin's  influence  Avas  at  its  lowest 


GS  JOHN   CALVIN. 

point,  and  Servetus  indulged  in  unmeasured  invective 
against  him.  This  naturally  aroused  Calvin  to  the  high- 
est pitch  of  indignation,  and  he  had  him  at  once  arrested 
and  tried  for  heresy.  During  the  trial  Calvin  had  little 
to  do  with  the  affair,  besides  furnishing  a  list  of  objec- 
tionable passages  from  Servetus'  writings.  The  council 
jealously  kept  the  trial  in  its  own  hands.  Before  finally 
deciding,  the  court  sent  copies  of  all  the  documents  to  the 
Churches  of  Berne,  Zurich,  Basel  and  Schaffhausen,  re- 
questing their  advice.  A^l  reported  that  Servetus  was 
guilty,  and  on  October  26th,  the  old  law,  which  Calvin 
neither  made  nor  inspired,  was  carried  out,  and  Servetus 
sentenced  to  be  burned.  Calvin — and  this  is  often  over- 
looked,— shrank  with  horror  from  the  infliction  of 
death  by  burning  and  implored  the  council  to  substitute 
a  milder  form  of  execution.  But  there  were  only  seven 
"Calvinists"  in  the  coimcil  and  that  body,  presided  over 
by  Perrin,  the  Libertine,  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
insisted  on  having  its  sentence  carried  out.  On  October 
27th,  1553,  Servetus  was  publicly  burned,  and,  by  one 
of  those  numerous  falsehoods  of  history,  to  Calvin  is 
always  imputed  the  guilt  of  that  funeral  pile,  although 
he  and  his  friends  were  the  only  ones  who  did  all  in  their 
power  to  prevent  it.  It  is  true,  in  common  with  Bul- 
linger,  Melancthon  and  others,  Calvin,  as  a  child  of  his 
century,  approved  of  the  sentence  of  death,  yet  he  hated 
to  see  a  Protestant,  "Auto  da  fe,"  a  Protestant  burning 
of  heretics  at  the  stake.  The  shock  aroused  many 
Protestants  to  the  consciousness  that  to  kill  men  for 
opinions'  sake,  was  to  go  in  the  teeth  of  their  own  claim 
of  the  right  of  private  judgment.  It  is  clearly 
illogical  first  to  grant  a  man  the  right  of  judg- 
ing of  what  is  true,  and  then  to  pimish  him  for 
the  use  he  makes  of  it.    Only  one  of  the  reformers,  and 


CONTROVERSY   WITH   SERVETUS.  69 

he  dead  at  the  time,  towered  high  above  his  contem- 
poraries in  this  respect  also.  Luther,  not  in  the  least 
questioning  the  right,  doubted  the  expedieneey  of  exe- 
cuting heretics.  He  writes  to  Link,  "Thou  askest  me, 
if  the  civil  magistrate  is  permitted  to  slay  the  false 
prophets.  I  have  little  love  for  condemnations  to  death, 
even  when  fully  merited.  Besides,  in  this  matter,  one 
thing  alarms  me ;  it  is  the  example  we  give.  Look  at  the 
papists ;  and,  before  the  time  of  Christ,  look  at  the  Jews. 
The  law  commanded  that  false  prophets  should  be  slain, 
and  they  ended  by  slaying  almost  none  but  blameless 
and  holy  prophets.  In  nowise,  therefore,  can  I  approve 
that  false  doctors  should  be  put  to  death.  Heresy  is  a 
spiritual  thing,  which  cannot  be  hewn  with  any  axe,  or 
burned  with  any  fire,  or  drowned  with  any  water.  Over 
the  souls  of  men,  God  can  and  will  have  no  one  rule,  save 
Himself  alone.  In  his  book  against  the  Anabaptists, 
Luther  says:  "It  is  not  right  that  they  should  so  shock- 
ingly murder,  burn  and  cruelly  slay  such  wretched 
people ;  they  should  let  every  one  believe  what  he  will ; 
with  the  Scripture  and  God's  "Word,  they  should  check 
and  withstand  them ;  with  fire  -they  will  accomplish  little. 
The  executioners,  on  this  plan,  would  be  the  most  learned 
doctors."  But  these  noble  words,  as  has  been  said, 
rather  express  the  dictates  of  Luther's  humane  impulses 
than  definite  principles  by  which  he  would  consistently 
abide. 

Chafing  under  the  severe  criticism  to  which  Calvin 
has  always  been  subjected  on  account  of  his  prominence 
in  the  trial  of  Servetus,  the  friends  of  the  reformer  at 
Geneva,  on  October  27,  1903,  placed  w^hat  they  call 
an  "Expiation  Tablet"  on  the  same  spot  where  Servetus 
was  burned,  on  which  they  declare  their  high  esteem  of 
Calvin,  and  at  the  same  time  condemn  his  error.  This  is  a 


70  JOHN   CALVIN. 

piece  of  well-meant  French  emotionalism,  which,  liowever, 
has  prompted  a  smile  on  the  part  of  Calvinists  among 
the  other  nations  of  the  world.  For  it  goes  without  say- 
ing that  we  dissent  from  many  things  which  our  fathers 
considered  right  and  proper  and  even  indispensable. 
But  if  we  were  to  erect  tablets  and  make  inscriptions 
declaring  our  dissent  from  their  mistakes,  and  if  our 
grandchildren  were  to  continue  this  work,  the  marble 
quarries  of  the  world  would  soon  be  exhausted  and  this 
globe  of  ours  would  look  like  one  great  cemetery.  It 
is  either  deficiency  in  exact  historical  information,  or 
lack  of  the  historical  spirit,  or  constitutional  aversion 
to  the  reformer,  to  single  him  out  for  attack  because  he 
was  not  three  hundred  years  ahead  of  his  times  with  refer- 
ence to  this  and  other  matters.  Dr.  Lindsay  correctly 
remarks,  ' '  To  say  that  Calvin  burned  Servetus,  as  is  con- 
tinually done,  is  to  make  one  man  responsible  for  a  state 
of  things  which  had  lasted  in  Western  Europe  ever  since 
the  Emperor  Theodosius  declared  that  all  men  were  out 
of  law,  who  did  not  accept  the  Nicene  Creed  in  the  form 
issued  by  Damasus  of  Rome.  On  the  other  hand,  to  re- 
lease Calvin  from  his  share  in  that  tragedy  and  crime, 
by  denying  that  he  sat  among  the  judges  of  the  heretic, 
or  to  allege  that  Servetus  was  slain  because  he  conspired 
against  the  liberties  of  the  city  is  equally  unreasonable." 


C  II  A  I*  T  E  R    XI  V. 

PASTORAL  WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

During  the  last  nine  years  of  his  life,  after  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Libertines,  Calvin  withdrew  more  and 
more  from  the  political  sphere  of  his  theocracy  and  de- 
voted himself  to  spiritual  labors.  This  was  the  period 
of  the  triumph  of  his  principle.  The  distrust  of  him 
by  the  council  cleared  away  perfectly,  and  people  and 
Senate  cordially  supported  him  in  his  efforts.  Many 
tokens  exist  of  the  high  respect  in  which  Calvin  was  held 
in  his  later  years.  The  work  he  got  through  during  this 
period,  considering  his  weak  physical  constitution,  and 
the  numerous  maladies  which  incessantly  preyed  on  him, 
was  enormous.  He  preached  two  or  three  times  a  week, 
lectured  every  third  day,  presided  in  the  consistory  on 
Thursdays,  and  fulfilled  the  other  duties  of  his  pastoral 
office.  His  pen  was  unceasingly  busy,  writing  new  books, 
revising  old  ones,  conducting  the  extensive  correspond- 
ence, a  selection  of  which  in  his  published  works  fills 
twelve  large  volumes,  taking  part  in  the  controversies  of 
the  time,  chief  of  which  were  the  Sacramentarian  Con- 
troversies with  the  Lutherans.  His  body  was  in  Geneva 
but  his  heart  was  in  the  church  of  God  everywhere.  His 
reputation  in  Europe  was  rising  to  dizzy  heights.  His 
theological  writings,  especially  his  Institutes  and  the 
famous  commentaries  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
gained  for  him  a  renoAvn  as  an  accomplished  author,  both 
as  to  matter  and  style.  Among  his  correspondents  were 
kings,  nobles,  and  persons  of  highest  positions  in  all 
countries;  his  advice  was  sought  in  matters  small  and 
great.  His  name  was  a  familiar  one  in  courts  and  con- 
claves.    His  letters  were  prized   as   literary  treasures 

71 


72  JOHN   CALVIN. 

as  well  as  for  the  worth  of  their  contents.  Not  a  church 
was  in  difficulty,  hardly  a  martyr  went  to  the  stake,  but 
received  from  him  some  message  of  guidance  or  consola- 
tion. Geneva  became  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted  like 
no  other  city,  and  numbers  of  persons  of  rank,  learning 
and  piety,  found  refuge  wdthin  its  walls.  John  Knox 
resided  in  Geneva  at  intervals  between  1554  and  1559, 
and  the  chapel  standing  to  the  right  of  Saint  Peter 's  Ca- 
thedral bears  the  inscription  concerning  the  great  Scotch 
reformer.  He  became  intimate  with  Calvin,  and  through- 
out life  revered  him  as  a  father.  Large  numbers  of  Re- 
formed preachers,  trained  by  Calvin,  went  forth  to 
spread  the  gospel  in  other  countries.  It  is  natural  that 
Calvin  should  interest  himself  in  an  especial  manner 
in  the  progress  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Prance,  which 
from  a  single  congregation  in  1556,  had,  notwithstand- 
ing furious  persecutions,  increased  by  the  year  1561 
to  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  churches.  Calvin 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  French  Reformed 
Church  consolidated,  and  his  form  of  government  set 
up  in  it  in  even  purer  form  than  at  Geneva.  There  is 
scarcely  one  of  his  letters  in  which  he  does  not  recur  to 
his  ideal  of  the  ''Church  under  the  Cross"  growing  be- 
fore God  in  proportion  to  her  sufferings.  Noticeable 
among  his  letters  are  the  two  beautiful  epistles -ILToL-the-^ 
Believers  of  Prance,"  in  June  and  November,  1559. 
"Doubt  not,"  he  writes,  "even  if  the  wicked  had  ex- 
hausted all  their  cruelty,  that  there  shall  be  one  drop  of 
blood  which  shall  not  tend  to  increase  the  number  of 
believers."  Calvin  strongly  influenced  the  Pirst  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  the  Prench  Reformed  Church,  held  in 
1559.  Some  of  his  most  impressive  letters  were  vrritten 
to  the  great  Admiral  Coligny,  the  leader  and  one  of  the 
martyrs  of  the  Prench  Reformed  people.    Like  Luther, 


I'AS'lOKAL    WORK    AT    HOME    AXD   ABROAD.  73 

Calvin  strongly  deprecated  the  religious  wars,  and  with 
respect  to  the  French  wars,  he  told  the  Reformed  lead- 
ers that  "if  they  wished  to  establish  their  rights  by  the 
sword,  they  would  prevent  God  from  helping  them.  One 
single  drop  of  blood  shed  by  you  will  overflow  all 
Franeo."    And  this  became  true. 


C  II  A  r  T  E  R    X  V. 

FOUNDING  OF  THE  GENEVAN  UNIVERSITY. 

All  the  Eeforiiiers  were  hip^hly  educated  men,  and 
knew  the  value  of  sound  education  for  the  promotion  of 
pure  religon  and  the  public  welfare.  One  dream  of 
Calvin,  therefore,  he  desired  to  realize  before  his  death 
— the  founding  of  a  university.  This  work  he  saw  ac- 
complished in  1559.  A  building  was  erected;  Theodore 
Beza  was  appointed  rector ;  and  provision  was  made  for 
instruction  in  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  philosophy,  law,  and 
later  also  in  medicine,  in  addition  to  theology.  This  in- 
stitution gave  new  glory  to  Geneva.  In  addition  to  cul- 
ture and  pure  morals,  came  now  the  arts  and  sciences. 

As  early  as  1552,  the  council  had  bought  the  ground, 
but  the  money  for  building  was  lacking.  Then  Calvin 
took  the  work  in  hand  more  directly.  He  opened  a  gen- 
eral subscription  list  and  very  soon  was  in  possession 
of  ten  thousand  florins,  a  large  sum  for  those  times. 
^  Then  the  council  decided  to  begin  building.  On  the 
fifth  of  June  the  Academy  was  opened  by  a  service  in 
St.  Peter's  Cathedral.  An  eye-witness,  the  Secretary 
of  State,  gives  the  following  quaint  description  of  this 
opening  service.  "On  Monday,  the  fifth  of  June,  1559, 
my  very  honorable  Lords  Syndics  with  several  of  the 
Lords  Counsellors,  and  myself,  the  Secretary,  repaired 
to  the  temple  of  St.  Peter,  where  the  ministers  of  God's 
"Word,  learned  doctors,  scholars,  and  men  of  letters  were 
assembled  in  great  number.  After  prayer  to  God  was 
made,  the  worthy  John  Calvin  delivered  a  speech  in 
French.  By  the  command  of  the  said  Lords,  the  laws, 
order  and  statutes  of  the  college,  with  the  form  of  the 

74 


lb  vJOIIN    CALVIN. 

eonfessioii  of  faith  to  be  made  by  the  scholars,  together 
with  the  form  of  oath  which  is  to  be  taken  by  the  rector, 
masters  and  lecturers,  were  published  with  a  loud  voice 
by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Then  was  declared  the  elec- 
tion of  the  rector,  the  worthy  Theodore  Beza,  minister  of 
the  Word  of  God  and  burgher  of  this  city.  He,  after 
this  declaration,  made  an  oration  in  the  Latin  tongue, 
after  which  the  aforesaid  worthy  Calvin  closed  the . 
solemnity  with  prayer. ' '  A  school  festival  is  yearly  ob- 
served in  the  same  church  in  commemoration  of  this 
event. 

It  is  interesting  to  read  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  institution.  The  Academy  was  placed  imder  the 
government  of  the  clergy,  who  elected  the  rector,  the 
professors  and  teachers,  their  choice  being  approved  by 
the  council.  The  rules  are  stamped  with  the  character 
of  those  times.  The  students  M-ere  to  attend  divine  service 
once  every  Wednesday,  and  three  times  every  Sunday. 
In  Summer  they  were  to  attend  class  at  six;  in  Winter 
at  seven.  They  were  to  breakfast  in  class,  and  at  ten 
o  'clock  the  teachers  were  to  conduct  them  to  their  homes. 
After  dinner  at  eleven  o'clock  they  were  to  return  to 
school  and  practice  psalm  singing  for  an  hour;  from 
one  to  two  o  'clock  they  were  to  take  their  little  afternoon 
refreshment  in  class.  The  lessons  were  to  cea^ie  at  four 
o'clock,  and  then  the  scholars  were  to  assemble  in  the 
hall,  where  the  rector  was  to  dismiss  them  with  kindly 
coimsel  to  all,  openly  censuring  those  who  had  merited 
the  reprehension  of  their  teachers.  In  1563  already  we 
find  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  foreign  students,  whom 
the  fame  of  this  school  had  dra\\Ti  to  Geneva.  Not  only 
young  men  but  fugitives  of  riper  years  and  high  scho- 
lastic attainments,  sat  at  the  feet  of  Calvin.  A  content 
porary  writes  that  no  less  than  one  thousand  heai 


POUNDING   OF  THE   GENEVAN   UNIVERSITY.  77 

listened  daily  to  the  lectures  of  Calvin.  This  Academy 
became  the  pattern  of  all  newly-founded  similar  insti- 
tutions in  the  neighboring  countries.  The  edifice,  with 
few  modifications,  still  houses  the  University  of  Geneva. 
The  school  was  poor,  the  rector  receiving  only  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  florins  and  a  residence  as  his  annual 
salary.  In  the  years  1580-1590  the  school  was  so  poverty- 
stricken  that  collections  had  to  be  made  in  foreign  lands, 
notably  in  England,  to  keep  it  open.  Beza  was  then 
the  only  professor,  all  the  others  having  been  discharged 
because  of  lack  of  funds. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

LAST  MONTHS  AND  DEATH. 

The  time  now  approached  when  Calvin  should  lay  down 
the  weajjous  of  his  earthly  warfare.  His  body,  the  seat  of 
many  disorders,  some  of  them  inflicting  on  him  excruci- 
ating pain,  was  rapidly  breaking  up.  For  years  he  took 
only  one  meal  a  day  and  that  a  very  sparing  one.  He 
never  wrote  much  about  his  bodily  weakness,  but  the 
writings  of  his  friends  and  the  minutes  of  the  council 
furnish  us  with  occasional  information.  In  January, 
1546,  the  council  is  informed  ''of  the  sickness  of  M. 
Calvin,  who  hath  no  resources,"  and  votes  him  ten 
crowns.  Calvin  refused  the  money.  Then  the  counsel- 
lors decide  to  buy  with  the  ten  crowns  a  cask  of  good 
wine  and  express  the  desire  "that  M.  Calvin  should 
take  it  in  good  part."  Calvin,  not  to  give  offense,  ac- 
cepts, but  he  afterwards  employs  ten  crowns  of  his  salary 
for  the  relief  of  the  poorest  ministers.  Towards  the 
middle  of  1563,  he  began  visibly  to  fail.  He  experi- 
enced pains  in  his  head,  pains  in  his  limbs,  pains  in  his 
stomach,  spitting  of  blood,  difficulty  in  breathing,  the 
gout,  and  gall  stones.  The  Bishop  of  London  urges 
Calvin  to  work  a  little  less,  and  to  preserve  himself  for 
the  Church  which  so  greatly  needs  him.  But  he  con- 
tinued preaching,  though  it  fatigued  him  very  much. 
His  last  sermon  was  delivered  on  the  sixth  of  February, 
1564.  A  violent  fit  of  coughing  stopped  his  -utterance 
and  the  blood  gushed  into  his  mouth.  He  was  obliged  to 
come  down  from  the  pulpit,  and  his  flock  understood 
but  too  well  that  he  would  never  enter  it  again.  After 
this,  he  was  carried  to  the  church  on  several  occasions. 

78 


LAST     .MONTHS     AND     UK  ATll.  7l> 

On  the  tenth  of  March  the  council  ordered  public  pray- 
ers "for  the  health  of  M.  Calvin,  who  has  been  long  in- 
disposed, and  is  even  in  danger  of  death."  In  spite  of 
his  pain  he  continued  writing  and  revising  his  books. 
On  Easter  day,  April  2nd,  he  was  carried  to  church  and 
partook  for  the  last  time  of  the  Sacrament.  It  was  a 
solemn  hour  when  he  was  seen  approaching  the  Lord's 
Table.  Never  had  his  finest  sermons  had  half  the  elo- 
quence of  the  spectacle  presented  by  that  shattered 
frame  and  that  wasted  hand  which  was  stretched  out 
to  receive  the  sacred  symbols.  The  large  congregation 
was  bathed  in  tears  when  he  joined  with  trembling  voice 
in  the  concluding  hymn,  "Lord,  let  Thy  servant  depart 
in  peace. ' '  A  few  days  before  Easter,  on  March  twenty- 
seventh,  he  was  borne  to  the  council-chamber  and  took 
an  affectionate  farewell  from  the  members;  and  a  month 
later,  on  April  thirtieth,  the  council  sent  a  deputation 
of  tweny-five  lords  to  his  house.  Calvin  solemnly  ad- 
dressed them  on  their  duties,  begged  them  one  and  all  to 
pardon  his  faults  and  then  took  a  formal  and  affection- 
ate farewell.  On  the  following  day  he  received  the  pas- 
tors of  the  city  and  made  an  impressive,  fatherly  address 
to  them,  "that  they  should  persevere  in  doing  their  duty 
after  his  death  and  that  they  should  not  lose  courage,  for 
God  would  protect  the  city  and  the  Church."  A  few 
days  before  this  he  had  made  his  last  will  and  testament, 
in  the  introduction  of  which  he  blesses  God  for  having 
called  him  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel.  He  distributes  to 
his  nephews  and  nieces  his  books  and  furniture,  and  two 
hundred  flnd  twenty-five  crowns,  "which  is  all  the  prop- 
erty God  hath  given  me.  Ten  crowns  are  to  be  given  to 
the  college,  and  ten  to  the  fund  for  poor  strangers  and 
refugees. ' ' 

On  May  second,  Calvin  received  a  letter  froui  Farel, 


80  .lOllN   CALVIN. 

who  was  nearly  eighty  years  old,  in  which  he  expressed 
the  desire  to  see  liim  once  more.  The.  Reformer  ad- 
vised his  fatherly  friend  not  to  fatigue  himself  by  com- 
ing to  see  him.  But  Farel  was  already  on  his  way; 
dusty  and  exhausted,  for  he  had  come  from  Neuchatel 
on  foot,  Calvin  saw  him  enter  his  chamber.  The  leave- 
taking  was  heart-rending.  The  scene  of  the  man  who 
in  1536  held  back  Calvin  in  Geneva  embracing  the 
dying  reformer,  was  w^orthy  of  a  painter 's  brush. 

The  nineteenth  of  May  brought  around  what  were 
called  the  ''censures,"  which  he  had  instituted.  The 
clergy  assembled  on  that  day  to  admonish  each  other 
fraternally  and  afterwards  partook  together  of  a  modest 
meal.  The  ministers  met  in  his  house  and  he  was  carried 
into  the  dining-room.  ''My  brethren,"  he  said,  "I  am 
come  to  see  you  for  the  last  time."  Then  he  offered 
prayer,  but  not  without  difficulty.  Before  the  end  of  the 
supper  he  requested  to  be  carried  back  to  his  bed  cham- 
ber. The  few  days  that  remained  to  him  were  spent 
almost  wholly  inprayer.  His  form  was  so  wasted  that 
it  seemed  as  if  only  the  spirit  were  left,  but  his  eyes, 
witnesses  tell  us,  burned  with  their  old_ lustre  till  the 
close.  On  May  twenty-seventh,  towards  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening  he  died,  and  as  one  of  his  friends  wrote 
"at  the  same  moment  when  the  sun  set,  the  greatest 
light  on  earth  in  the  church  of  God  was  withdrawn  to 
heaven."  Great  was  the  mourning  in  Geneva,  and  in- 
tense the  excitement  which  the  news  of  his  death  thrilled 
through  the  Christian  world. 

The  day  following  his  death,  at  two  o'clock,  an  im- 
mense procession  of  professors,  ministers,  students,  citi- 
zens, all  classes  of  population,  many  of  them  in  tears, 
followed  his  corpse  to  its  quiet  resting-place  in  the  ceme- 
tery of  Plain  Palais.    It  was  Calvin's  own  wish  that  he 


82  JOHN    CALVIN. 

should  be  buried  without  pomp  and  that  no  stone  should 
be  raised  to  his  memory. 

The  only  official  epitaph  which  he  received  is  this  half- 
line  inscribed  by  the  side  of  his  name  in  the  record  of  the 
consistory — "Went  to  God,  Saturday,  the  twenty-sev- 
enth." The  exact  spot  where  he  sleeps  is  accordingly 
unlmown.  A  small  stone  marked  with  the  simple  letters 
"J.  C."  has  for  about  thirty  years  marked  the  sup- 
posed place  of  his  interment,  but  the  identification  is 
conjectural. 

Extensive  preparations  are  being  made  at  present  to 
erect  an  immense  "Calvin  Monument"  at  Geneva,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Four  Hundredth  birthday  of  the  re- 
former, which  is  designed  to  outshine  the  largest  of  the 
many  Luther  monuments,  that  at  Worms,  in  point  of 
size,  cost,  and  artistic  beauty. 


CHAP  T  h]  \i     XVII. 

PERSONAL  CHARACTER  OF  CALVIN. 

The  oft-quoted  words  of  the  gi-eat  German  poet,  Schil- 
ler, with  reference  to  M^allenstein,  may  fitly  be  applied 
to  Calvin :  ' '  Distorted  by  the  praise  and  hate  of  parties, 
the  impress  of  his  character  floats  in  history."  (*'Von 
der  Parteien  Gimst  und  Ilass  verwirrt,  schwebt  sein 
Charakterbild  in  der  Geschichte.")  Exalted  to  the  higli- 
heaven  by  his  admirers,  during  his  life  and  up  to  the 
present  time,  his  reputation  and  character  liavc  heen 
attacked  in  an  unusually  virulent  manner  by  every 
artifice  of  ingenuity,  sophistry  and  malignity,  by  Roman- 
ists, Free-thinkers  and  Lutherans.  "No  name  in  church 
history,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  "not  even  Hildebrand's,  or 
Luther's  or  Loyola's — has  been  so  much  loved  and  hated, 
admired  and  abhorred,  praised  and  blamed,  blessed  and 
cursed,  as  that  of  John  Calvin."  The  unusual  experi- 
ence in  this  connection,  however,  is  that  even  adherents 
of  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  Churches  have  not  infre- 
quently succumbed  to  the  temptation  of  unduly  mini- 
mizing the  lofty  qualities  and  exaggerating  the  faults  of 
the  reformer  of  their  o\\ti  church.  A  similar  unsympa- 
thetic attitude  towards  the  leaders  of  one's  own  denomi- 
nation is  not  found  in  other  churches.  A  single  event, 
the  execution  of  Servetus,  distorted  and  imputed  to  his 
agency  alone,  has  been  made  to  color  his  whole  life  and 
to  portray  his  habitual  conduct.  To  write  about  Calvin, 
therefore,  means  to  defend  him.  If  the  traditional  por- 
trait of  Calvin  represented  the  real  Calvin  it  would  re- 
main an  unsolved  mystery  llo^v  such  a  man  could  ever 
have  awakened  such  a  deep  feeling  of  respect  and  love  in 

83 


84  JOHN   CALVIN. 

the  hearts  of  his  friends,  how  he  could  have  been  almost 
idolized  in  all  sections  of  Europe,  how  martyrs  on  the 
fimeral  pile  could  adoringly  cry  out,  ''Thee,  0  Calvin, 
we  greet,  for  thou  hast  given  us  the  truth ; ' '  how  he  could 
have  left  such  an  impression  of  the  ''great  majesty"  of 
his  character  as  he  did,  on  the  council  of  his  own  city. 
Between  the  hero-worship  accorded  to  the  unquestioned 
and  overtowering  genius  of  Luther,  and  the  unsympa- 
thetic criticism  directed  at  Calvin,  there  is  the  golden 
mean  of  a  serious  and  sympathetic  study  of  the  re- 
former's life  and  the  great  cause  which  he  represented 
and  promoted.  And  there  are  distinct  indications  in 
this  age,  when  the  historical  spirit  and  scientific  methods 
dominate  almost  every  sphere  of  investigation,  that  the 
cry,  "back  to  the  sources,"  to  Calvin's  Commentaries,  his 
Institutes,  and  especially  to  the  more  than  a  dozen  vol- 
umes of  his  letters,  (which  are  after  all  the  truest  portrait 
of  the  man's  character,)  is  being  heard  and  heeded  by 
writers  on  Calvin.  The  traditional  views  of  the  reformer 
and  his  work  which  have  become  stereotyped  and  which 
writers  uncritically  copied  one  from  the  other  are  being 
carefully  scrutinized.  The  present  year  of  the  400th 
anniversary  of  his  birth  will  no  doubt  aid  in  these  laud- 
able efforts,  especially  by  making  his  o^vn  writings  more 
accessible  to  the  students  in  our  seminaries  and  other  in- 
stitutions of  higher  education.  We  believe  that  a  well- 
balanced  portrait  of  Calvin's  character,  in  which  light 
and  shade  are  distributed  in  proportions  true  to  the  facts 
of  history,  will  show  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  strong 
faith,  deep  humility,  unbending  conviction,  and  genuine 
heart-power ;  tolerant,  courageous,  highly  intellectual,  in- 
dustrious and  very  courteous  in  his  outward  manners. 
Let  us  analyze  these  characteristics  in  detail. 


PERSONAL    CHARA('Ti;i{    OF    CALVIN.  85 

1.  A  man  of  strong  faith.  As  Calvin  never  wavered 
in  doctrine,  so  neither  can  any  trace  of  weakness  be 
found' in  his  faith.  Luther  had  to  endure  terrible  con- 
flicts; Melancthon  was  often  despondent;  even  Knox, 
with  all  his  energy,  felt  disheartened  from  time  to  time. 
But  Calvin's  trust  was  as  firm  as  a  rock,  and  this  firm- 
ness was  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  his  char- 
acter. It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  he  knew 
nothing  of  such  struggles.  In  a  classic  passage  in  his 
"Institutes,"  he  says:  "If  the  believing  soul  is  driven 
to  and  fro  in  an  unusual  manner,  still  will  it  rise  again 
superior  to  all  its  distresses,  and  never  suffer  itself  to  be 
deprived  of  its  trust  in  the  divine  mercy.  Faith  is  never 
wholly  rooted  out  of  the  heart  of  a  true  believer.  In 
all  struggles  faith  overcometh  the  world,  though  it  should 
be  assailed  a  thousand  times. "  The  secret  of  the  strength 
of  Calvin's  faith  will  be  found  in  his  firm  conviction  in 
God's  immutable  decrees,  that  God  foreordained  whatso- 
ever comes  to  pass.  His  consciousness  of  God's  presence 
was  always  strong  and  sometimes  very  vivid.  "Before 
God  and  His  ho]y  angels"  is  a  favorite  phrase  which  he 
often  uses.  The  perilous  times  in  which  he  lived  doubt- 
less contributed  greatly  to  this  remarkable  energy  of 
faith.  The  very  excitement  and  the  surrounding  dangers 
would  aid  in  its  development. 

2.  A  man  of  deep  humility.  "With  reference  to  this 
trait  of  character,  Calvin's  letters,  admitting  us  to  the 
inmost  recesses  of  his  soul,  reveal  to  us  a  very  different 
man  from  the  Calvin  of  traditional  opinion.  Accused  of 
pride  and  arrogance,  we  find  a  man  of  very  humble 
heart,  shy,  timid,  even  bashful.  Accused  of  tyrann5%  he 
was  able  to  write:  "How  groundless  the  slander  is  that 
I  am  a  tyrannical  ruler,  I  leave  my  colleagues  to  .judge, 
for  they  certainly  have  never  complained  that  they  felt 


86  JOHN    CAI.VIN. 

themselves  opprest  by  my  power;  on  the  contrary,  they 
frequently  object  to  me  that  I  am  too  shy,  and  do  not 
act  freely  enough  when  there  is  need  of  the  exercise  of 
my  authority,  which  all  regard  as  beneficial. "  It  is  well 
known  that  his  great  desire  was  to  spend  his  time  in  re- 
tirement. The  records  show  that  in  1541  it  took  the  city 
of  Geneva  and  the  friends  of  the  Reformed  cause  in  other 
places  almost  a  year  to  force  him  out  of  his  retirement 
at  Strasburg  and  induce  him  to  return  to  Geneva.  Of 
the  naive  self -consciousness  of  Luther,  Calvin  had  not  the 
least  vestige.  Luther,  for  instance,  signed  his  last  will 
and  testament  as  follows:  ''It  is  I,  Dr.  Martinus  Luther, 
administrator  of  God  and  witness  of  His  Gospel  on  earth, 
who  needs  no  attorney  to  confirm  his  will ;  for  I  am  well 
Imown  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  hell.  And  I  am  re- 
spected enough  that  one  may  believe  me. ' '  Calvin  would 
never  have  dreamed  of  speaking  thus  concerning  his  per- 
son. In  his  outward  circumstances  also,  he  was  humble 
and  remained  poor.  This  characteristic  even  the  pope 
noticed,  when,  on  hearing  of  Calvin's  death,  he  is  said 
to  have  remarked:  ''That  which  made  the  strength  of 
that  heretic  was,  that  money  was  nothing  to  him." 
When  Cardinal  Sadolet  made  his  secret  visit,  to  Geneva, 
he  asked  for  "Calvin's  palace,"  and  was  astonished  to 
find  a  very  modest  house. 

3.  A  man  of  unbending  loyalty  to  convictions  and  con- 
science. Calvin's  power  of  conscience  surpasses  all  the 
other  powers  of  his  nature.  It  was  this,  and  not  unholy 
passion,  which  so  often  allowed  his  zeal  to  go  too  far 
in  the  pursuit  of  a  particular  end.  Thus,  his  failings 
sprung  from  the  excess  of  his  virtues.  It  was  this  force 
of  conscience  which  often  carried  him  too  far  in  the  three 
distinguishing  tendencies  of  his  spirit :  in  his  theological) 
opinions,  in  his  exercise  of  church  discipline,  and  \xK  hi^s 


PERSONAL    CHARACTER    OF    CATA'IX.  87 

desire  of  unity.  His  conscience  impelled  him  to  attend 
to  the  least  as  well  as  to  the  greatest  things.  In  this  he 
was  like  all  men  of  lofty  capacity.  He  was  a  Frenchman 
in  liveliness  but  a  German  in  his  accuracy  and  con- 
scientious observance  of  truth.  Even  in  the  development 
of  his  Doctrine  of  Election  it  was  loyalty  to  conscience 
which  led  him  to  definitions  that  even  to  him  seemed 
"horrible. "  In  his  theological  controversies,  he  did  noth- 
ing moved  by  mere  calculations  of  prudence ;  these  were 
also  a  matter  of  conscience  with  him.  Dr.  Henry  says: 
"Calvin  was  pre-eminently  a  slave  to  conscience. 
Neither  the  understanding  nor  the  feelings  predominated 
in  him.  This  conscientiousness  exercised  the  greatest  in- 
fluence over  his  whole  being,  which,  endowed  with  glow- 
ing zeal,  showed  a  holy  devotedness  to  whatever  is  good 
and  right.  Hence  the  character  of  his  religious  zeal, 
which  sometimes  seems  blended  with  obstinacy,  fanati-" 
cism  and  arrogance,  exhibits  at  the  same  time  a  noble, 
unconquerable  firmness;  a  sincere,  deep  humility;  an 
utter  self-abasement,  the  fruit  of  an  awakening  con- 
science. Thus,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  influenced  in  him,  not 
so  much  the  feelings,  the  imagination,  or  the  understand- 
ing, as  the  conscience,  so  the  purest  love  of  truth  exer- 
cised the  most  remarkable  influence  on  his  life.  His  hero- 
ism displayed  itself  in  his  various  struggles  with  the 
Libertines ;  his  piety  was  always  accompanied  by  the 
profoimd  belief  in  the  divine  election ;  in  his  inner  life, 
his  faith  never  Avavered;  his  feeling  of  the  nearness  of 
God  never  failed. "  Calvin,  although  known  as  a  French- 
man of  aristocratic  courtesy  of  outward  manner,  was  an 
enemy  of  hypocrisy  and  deceit,  he  being  the  soul  of  sin- 
cerity. In  one  of  his  letters  he  writes :  "  I  received  you 
in  a  manner  but  little  friendly,  for  I  could  not  practice 
hypocrisy,  which  exists  not  in  my  soul.     Not  only  did 


88  JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  reasons  alluded  to  make  me  resolute,  but  still  more  the 
horror  which  I  feel  at  your  insincerity." 

4.  A  man  of  genuine  heart-power.  The  world  has 
been  accustomed  to  impute  a  stoic  coldness  and  severity 
to  his  character,  but  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  contra- 
dicts this  imputation.  Calvin  was  not  cold.  Those  who 
speak  of  him  in  this  way  have  not  gone  far  down  into 
his  inner  life.  Here,  again,  it  is  his  letters  which  show 
that  beneath  a  reserved  exterior  there  beats  a  warm,  true, 
loving  heart.  On  the  death  of  his  infant  son,  he  writes : 
"The  Lord  has  indeed  inflicted  a  grievous  woimd  on  us 
by  the  death  of  our  little  son,  and  we  feel  it  bitterly. 
But  He  is  a  father,  and  knows  what  is  necessary  for  His 
children."  When  his  wife  was  removed  from  his  side, 
he  tells :  * '  If  I  had  not  exercised  the  whole  force  of  my 
spirit  to  soften  my  agony,  I  could  not  have  borne  it.  I 
do  what  I  can  not  to  sink  under  the  weight  of  the  mis- 
fortune." His  spirit  went  on  mellowing  as  years  ad- 
vanced. A  volume  could  be  filled  with  extracts  from  his 
letters,  showing  the  same  throbbing  heart  as  those  just 
quoted.  Calvin  was  not  only  craving  for  true  friend- 
ship, since  his  student  days,  but  he  also  Imew  how  to 
retain  the  love  and  respect  of  his  friends. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  those  who  still  cling  to  the 
traditional  view  of  a  "heartless"  Calvin,  the  circle  of  his 
devoted  friends  at  Geneva  and  throughout  Europe  in- 
creased to  enormous  proportions  as  the  years  rolled  by. 
To  this  also  his  extensive  correspondence  bears  unim- 
peachable evidence.  While  around  the  ageing  Luther  it 
became  decidedly  lonesome  on  account  of  his  increasing 
intolerance  which  even  made  Melancthon  confess  to  a 
feeling  of  uneasiness  in  the  presence  of  his  revered 
friend,  the  number  of  Calvin's  friends  and  their  devo- 
tion was  steadily  on  the  increase.     The  fact  that  there 


PERSnNAI.    CTTARACTER    OP    CAT,VIN.  89 

are  so  few  Calvin  monuments  in  existence  must  not  be 
misconstrued,  as  Dr.  Schaff  does,  as  an  evidence  of  lack 
of  enthusiasm.  It  has  always  been  a  conscientious  con- 
viction with  the  most  loyal  friends  of  Calvin  that  Imow- 
ing  the  reformer's  aversion  to  monuments  and  similar 
display,  his  last  will  should  be  respected,  and  many  ob- 
jected therefore  to  the  monument  at  present  under  con- 
struction at  Geneva.  He  is,  however,  immortalized  in  the 
Doiii  at  Berlin,  in  the  Protestation  Church  at  Speyer 
on  the  great  Luther  monument  at  Worms,  and  in  other 
places.  His  most  enduring  monument,  however,  is  his 
work  and  influence. 

Calvin  is  constantly  blamed  for  want  of  love  of  nature. 
Nature's  fairest  scenes  were  stretched  aroimd  him,  yet 
liis  letters  take  no  more  notice  of  them  than  if  he  had  lived 
in  the  desert.  That  his  intellectual  powers  were  pre- 
eminent is  unquestionably  true.  Yet  the  argument  from 
silonoe  must  not  be  pressed  too  far.  Moreover,  passages 
might  be  quoted  to  show  that  Calvin  was  far  from  in- 
sensible to  the  grandeur  of  God's  works  in  the  natural 
world.  In  his  preface  to  the  New  Testament,  he  writes: 
"Whither  could  men  turn  without  hearing  vocal  testi- 
monies to  the  existence  and  glory  of  God.  The  birds 
in  their  warblings  sing  of  God,  and  the  lowing  steers 
more  loudly  toll  of  him.  while  the  heavenly  bodies  move 
on  in  silent  adoration  ;  the  mountains  resound  His  praise, 
and  fountain  and  flood  point  to  Him  with  their  glanze, 
and  every  herb  and  flower  seem  to  woo  man  to  his 
Maker. "  Because  Calvin  has  said  nothing  of  the  natural 
beauties  of  his  surroimdings,  the  lake,  the  Mount  Blanc, 
and  the  beautiful  castles,  let  us  not  hastily  conclude 
that  he  saw  nothing.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  for  whom 
he  rented  a  house,  he  describes  the  one  which  he  has 
chosen,  saying:  "You  will  have  a  garden  in  front;  and 


90  '  JOHN   CALVIN. 

behind  another  garden."  In  a  letter  to  Viret  in  1550, 
he  outlines  a  plan  of  "rusticating"  with  him  on  the 
smiling  hills  near  Geneva,  when  the  friend  should  pay 
his  promised  visit.  It  should  be  known  by  this  time  that 
Calvin  had  a  genuine  appreciation  of  both  poetry  and 
music.  He  promoted  a  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms, 
had  appropriate  tunes  composed  to  them  and  himself 
wrote  a  few  pieces,  including  a  "Hymn  of  Praise  to 
Christ,"  which,  says  Schaff,  "are  worthy  of  Clement 
Marot,  and  reveal  an  unexpected  vein  of  poetic  fervor 
and  tenderness." 

5.  Calvin  was  a  tolerant  man.  Judged  from  the  stand- 
point of  his  age,  he  was  liberal  in  his  views,  moderate  in 
his  spirit,  and  tolerant  in  his  disposition.  This  goes 
against  the  traditional  opinion  concerning  the  reformer. 
But  tried  by  the  universal  judgment  of  his  age,  Calvin  was 
not  as  intolerant  as  Luther  and  not  more  intolerant  than 
Zwingli.  Calvin's  mind,  whatever  its  defects,  was  most 
assuredly  not  a  narrow  one.  While  not  free  from  the  in- 
evitable limitations  of  his  age,  it  was  vast,  capacious, 
comprehensive.  It  was  certainly  not  narrow  as  despis- 
ing culture.  With  respect  to  heathen  vdsdom,  he  says: 
"It  is  granted  by  all  that  truth,  of  what  kind  soever  it 
is,  is  precious.  And  as  God  is  the  fountain  of  all  that 
is  good,  you  will  incur  the  charge  of  deep  ingratitude,  if 
you  do  not  M-elcome  every  portion  of  truth,  in  whatever 
channel  it  may  come  to  you. ' '  Calvin  was  not  narrow  in 
his  expositions  of  the  Bible,  which  anticipate  the  best 
modern  works  of  their  class  in  their  freedom  from  dog- 
matic prejudice,  and  honest  desire  to  discover  the  exact 
sense  of  Scripture.  In  the  exercise  of  genuine  tolera- 
tion, the  reformer  embraced  men  of  very  different 
opinions,  like  Socinus,  the  Unitarian,  and  Luther.  He 
was  liberal  enough  not  to  insist  on  non-essentials  which 


PERSONAL    CHARACTER    OP    CALVIN.  91 

might  prove  a  barrier  to  the  union  of  churches.  Him- 
self favoring  the  Presbyterial  form  of  church  polity,  he 
was  not  as  hostile  to  Episcopacy  as  many  men  in  our  own 
days.  He  withheld  the  sacrament  from  the  Libertines 
because  of  their  immorality,  but  he  fought  against  the 
narro^\^less  of  the  Anabaptists,  who  insisted  on  a  per- 
fectly pure  church  upon  earth.  In  insisting  that  the 
spreading  of  heresy  should  be  punished  he  did  what  Beza 
and  Melancthon,  two  of  the  mildest  characters  in  the 
reformation  period,  also  strenuously  advocated.  His 
laws  punished  blasphemy,  and  so  do  ours  at  the  present 
time,  even  in  free  America.  At  any  rate,  it  seems  higli 
time  to  give  up  the  unhistorical  conception  which  makes 
these  men  monsters  of  intolerance.  Their  heart  revolted 
against  many  things  which  their  highly  developed  sense 
of  duty  and  responsibility  compelled  them  to  do.  They 
were  simply  slaves  to  a  conscience,  which  in  too  many 
respects  was  more  tender  than  ours,  while  in  other  di- 
rections it  lacked  clearness  of  spiritual  vision.  They 
were  afraid  to  do  wrong;  they  felt  like  many  conscien- 
tious pastors  to-day,  who  experience  a  constant  conflict 
between  conscience  and  the  Zeitgeist  in  the  church — 
the  spirit  of  the  times.  The  great  responsibility  of  the 
ministry  was  a  reality  in  the  eyes  of  these  refoi-mers. 

6.  A  man  of  courage.  There  was  a  certain  fiery  ex- 
cess, a  daringness  in  Calvin's  nature,  which  mingled 
itself  with  his  southern  blood.  He  had  the  zeal  of  a 
prophet  of  the  Old  Covenant.  Bayle  says,  "he  was 
frighted  at  nothing.  Exquisitely  sensitive  and  timid 
l>y  constitution,  he  was  from  his  earliest  years  obliged 
to  bend  to  the  inflexible  rule  of  duty."  Dr.  Henry 
says,  "Calvin's  love  of  truth,  his  noble,  unselfish  struggle 
for  the  things  of  God,  amid  difficulty  and  danger  so 
strengthened  his  soul  that  it  became  the   abode  of  a 


92 


JOHN    CALVIN. 


coura'ge  unfailing  and  heroifi.  With  a  good  conscience, 
therefore,  he  could,  in  numerous  letters  exhort  the  mar- 
tyrs of  the  Reformed  faith  to  remain  true  unto  death. 
That  Calvin  was  also  possessed  of  physical  courage  was 
shown  on  that  Easter  day  when  he  withheld  the  Sacra- 
ment from  the  Libertines  at  the  danger  of  his  life." 
On  his  moral  courage  we  need  not  enlarge;  his  whole 
life  is  a  commentary  on  that. 

7.  An  intellectual  giant.  Calvin 's  logical  and  well- 
trained  mind  worked  with  such  accuracy  that  his 
opinions  underwent  no  material  change  with  passing 
years,  and  the  revised  and  enlarged  editions  of  his  great 
work,  preserved  to  the  last  the  identity  of  his  earlier 
teachings.  In  his  own  time  he  was  already  famous  for 
his  retentive  memory.  "When  he  had  once  seen  a  person, 
he  recognized  him  immediately  years  afterwards,  and 
if  interrupted  while  dictating,  he  could  resume  his  task, 
after  an  interval  of  hours,  at  the  point  where  he  left  it, 
without  aid  from  his  secretary;  hence,  he  was  able 
to  discourse,  even  upon  the  prophets,  where  numerous 
historical  references  were  involved  without  the  aid  of  a 
scrap  of  paper,  and  with  nothing  before  him  but  the 
text.  He  had  a  mind  calm,  lofty  and  comprehensive  in 
its  views  of  truth;  clear  and  logical  in  its  processes  of 
thought;  endowed  with  singular  penetration  into  men's 
characters;  and  statesmanlike  in  its  grasp  of  the  com- 
plex features  of  an  involved  situation.  His  method  and 
presentation  of  the  truth  was  keen  and  severely  logical. 
Sophistical  objections  could  not  stand  before  his  pene- 
trating intellect.  He  mastered  several  languages  and 
his  Latin  style  was  so  polished  and  classical  that  it  has 
been  compared  with  that  of  Cicero. 

8.  An  industrious  man.  Like  all  men  who  have  at- 
tained unto  greatness,  Calvin  was  a  hard  and  Indus- 


PERSONAL    CUARACTER    OF    CALVIX. 


93 


trious  worker.     His  achievements  were  marvellous.    He 
was  pastor,  professor  and  statesman.    The  Genevan  edi- 
tion of  his  works  consists  of  twelve  folio  volumes.    Be- 
sides these,  there  exist  at  Geneva  two  thousand  of  his 
sermons  and  lectures,  taken  down  from  his  mouth  as 
he  delivered  them.    All  this  work  he  accomplished  dur- 
ing the  twenty-eight  years  which  he  spent  in  the  min- 
istry.   At  one  time  he  writes:  ''I  have  not  time  enough 
to  look  out  of  my  house  at  the  blessed  sun,  and  if  things  ( 
continue  thus  I  shall  forget  what  sort  of  an  appearance 
it  has.    When  I  have  settled  my  usual  business,  I  have 
so  many  letters  to  write,  so  many  questions  to  answer, 
that  many  a  night  is  spent  without  sleep."     He  was, 
however,  cheerful  and  could  say,  "I  compare  myself  to 
a  warrior  who  has  slain  many  enemies,  when  I  have  got- 
ten over  many  heavy  labors.    I  cannot  refuse  a  man  my 
aid,  whatever  time  and  trouble  it  might  cost  me."     On 
the'sarae  subject,  I  find  in  a  letter  to  Farel,  dated  Stras- 
burg,  April  20,  1539,  the  following  sentence,  "I  do  not 
remember,   throughout  this   whole   year,   a   single   day 
which  was  more  completely  engaged  with  various  oc- 
cupations.    For  when  the  present  messenger  wished  to 
carry  along  with  him  the  beginning  of  my  book,  there 
were  about  twenty  leaves  which  it  required  me  to  revise. 
In   addition,  there  was  the  public  lecture  and   I  had 
also  to  preach;   four  letters  were  still  to  be  written; 
some  disputes  to  settle,  and  to  reply  to  more  than  ten 
interruptions  in  the  meantime,  you  will  therefore  ex- 
cuse if  my  letter  should  be  both  brief  and  inaccurate." 
9.  A  courteous  gentleman.     The  manners  of  Calvin 
were    those    of    the    well-bred    gentleman,    grave    and 
courtly,  rather  than  those  of  the  man  of  the  people. 
Beza  says,  ''earnest  and  dignified  as  he  was,  there  has 
rarely  been  a  man  whose  discourse  and  friendly  bear- 


94  JOHN   CALVIN. 

ing  were  more  agreeable  than  Calvin's.  He  bore  with 
wonderful  patience  the  failings  of  men,  arising  from 
their  natural  infirmities,  that  he  might  not  by  intem- 
perate severity,  grieve  or  offend  the  conscience  of  the 
weak."  In  his  correspondence  as  well  as  in  his  per- 
sonal intercourse  he  united  firmness  with  respect  for 
propriety.  He  knew  what  is  due  to  the  great  and  he 
knew  also  how  to  stop  just  at  the  point  where  flattery 
would  begin.  In  his  controversial  writings,  he  is  less 
abusive  than  Luther,  and  yet  occasionally  he  also  lost 
his  temper  and  indulged  in  unbecoming  raillery.  Some 
coarse  sayings  of  his  have  been  preserved  and  are  oc- 
casionally exhibited  by  his  enemies.  "Without  wishing 
to  excuse  epithets,  it  must  be  remembered  when  criti- 
cising the  reformers  that  our  Lord  Himself  calls  the 
Pharisees  ''hypocrites,  and  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing" 
and  His  king  a  fox,  on  account  of  Herod's  crafty  char- 
acter. 

But  Calvin  was  by  no  means  without  faults.  Fisher 
says  of  him,  ' '  instead  of  a  geniality,  which  is  one  of  the 
native  qualities  of  Luther,  we  find  an  acerbity,  which  is 
felt  more  easily  than  described,  and  which  more  than 
anything  else  has  inspired  multitudes  with  aversion  to 
him.  In  his  boyhood  already  he  was  the  censor  of  the 
faults  of  his  schoolmates,  so  that  he  received  the  nick- 
name 'Accusative.'  Through  life,  he  had  a  tone, 
in  reminding  men  of  their  real  or  supposed  delinquencies 
which  provoked  resentment.  To  those  much  older  than 
himself,  to  men  like  Cranmer  and  Melancthon,  he  wrote 
in  this  unconsciously  cutting  style.  We  learn  from  Cal- 
vin himself  that  Melancthon,  mild  as  he  was  naturally, 
was  so  offended  at  the  style  of  one  of  his  admonitory 
epistles,  that  he  tore  it  to  pieces.  The  wretched  health, 
with  the  enormous  burdens  of  labors  had  an  unfavorable 


PERSONAL    CHARACTER    OP    CALVIN.  95 

effect  upon  a  temper  naturally  irritable.  He  was  occa- 
sionally so  carried  away  by  gusts  of  passion  that  he  lost 
all  self-control.  He  acknowledges  this  fault  with  the 
utmost  franlmess;  he  had  tried  in  vain,  he  says,  to  tame 
"the  wild  beast  of  his  anger;"  and  on  his  death-bed  he 
asked  pardon  of  the  Senate  of  Geneva  for  outbursts  of 
passion  Avhile  at  the  same  time  he  thanked  them  for 
their  forbearance.  No  doubt  his  coleric  temperament 
had  a  large  share  in  leading  him  astray.  To  Bucer,  he 
writes  "of  all  the  struggles  which  I  have  had  against 
my  failings,  the  greatest  has  been  that  against  my  im- 
patience." But  when  people  speak  of  Calvin's  malice, 
they  utter  a  falsehood  and  contradict  all  that  we  know 
of  his  life.  Little  matters  sometimes  excited  him  to 
anger.  For  example,  many  people,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
specimen  of  his  handwriting  would  question  him  on  sul)- 
jects  which  he  had  already  fully  explained  in  his  printed 
Avorks.  This  sometimes  moved  him  to  keen  sarcasm  and 
even  vehemence.  In  his  whole  correspondence,  once  only 
does  he  speak  of  laughing,  and  then  it  is  the  more  meri- 
torious, because  he  has  just  been  obliged  to  hand  the  pen 
to  his  secretary",  the  rheumatism  having  "taken  him  so 
rudely  by  the  shoulders  that  he  could  no  longer  make  a 
stroke  with  his  pen."  The  letter  was  addressed  to  a 
father,  who,  in  a  mirthful  letter  had  announced  to 
Calvin  the  birth  of  a  son.  Calvin  would  not  be  outdone 
ill  his  answer.  His  mirth,  however,  is  but  a  flash; 
and  in  an  instant  all  is  grave  again:  "I  pray  our  Lord 
that  it  may  please  Him  to  have  you  and  the  child  in  His 
holy  keeping,"  is  the  solemn  conclusion. 

Summing  up  our  discussion  on  the  reformer's  char- 
acter, it  has,  we  think,  become  clear  that  Calvin's  fatal 
want  was  a  lack  of  geniality  in  his  nature.  If  he  had  had 
only  a  small  percentage  of  that  quality,  which  was  so  ex- 


96  JOHN   CALVIN. 

uberant  in  Luther,  the  traditional  view  of  him  would  be 
different.  It  is  Luther's  attractive  personality  and  his 
kindly  disposition  which  save  the  day  for  the  German 
reformer,  and  which,  although  the  most  intolerant  among 
the  reformers,  make  him  so  attractive  to  people  of 
all  nationalities.  In  order  to  be  fair  to  Calvin  and  to 
assign  him  his  right  place  in  history,  the  important  ques- 
tion for  the  sound  psychologist  and  the  philosopher  of 
history  is,  however,  this :  without  the  severity  of  Calvin, 
would  we  have  had  a  Geneva,  the  model  city  for  centuries, 
a  true  Calvinism,  a  Presbyterian  Scotland,  a  Reformed 
Palatinate,  a  New  England  Puritanism  ?  Would  we  not 
have  witnessed  a  deluge  of  moral  laxity,  of  perverted 
ideas  concerning  liberty,  a  successful  tyranny  by  princes, 
if  Calvin  had  not  been  Calvin,  if  he  and  his  followers 
had  not,  at  the  peril  of  their  lives,  insisted  on  a  realiza- 
tion in  actual  life  of  those  moral  principles  which,  as 
far  as  doctrine  goes,  he  had  in  common  with  Luther,  but 
which  the  German  reformer  was  so  reluctant  to  enforce 
with  the  same  sternness  with  which  he  insisted  on 
"purity  of  doctrine"?  This  again  raises  the  larger 
questions :  can  radical  reforms  be  successful  in  uproot- 
ing wrong  habits  of  life  in  state  and  society  without 
Elijahs,  without  Johns  the  Baptist,  without  Calvins, 
without  Knoxes  ?  Was  Bismarck  entirely  wrong  or  does 
history  bear  him  out  when  he  said  tliat,  taking  the  world 
as  it  really  is,  great  wrongs  cannot  be  righted  by  reso- 
lutions and  discussions,  but  only  by  blood  and  iron? 
Is  it  possible  to  blast  the  rocks  of  iniquity  without  moral 
powder  and  spiritual  dynamite  ?  How  much  would  Me- 
lancthon  have  accomplished  with  his  ''Apology,"  his 
''Interims,"  and  all  sorts  of  compromises?  Except  for 
the  voice  of  thunder  from  lions  like  Luther,  Calvin  and 
Knox  the  clash  of  arms  by  Pope  and  Emperor  would 


PERSONAL    CTTARACTER    OF    CAIA'TN.  97 

have  drowned  the  gentle  voice  of  compromise.  Is  it 
sound  philosophy  of  history,  then,  to  rule  out  those  men 
as  disturbing  factors  and  unlovely  people?  The  world 
in  and  outside  of  the  church  has  no  objection  to  the 
"pure  gospel"  if*  it  confines  itself  to  catechisms  and 
sermons,  nor  to  a  new  ritual,  but  when  the  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles  insists  on  church  discipline  at  Corinth,  and 
the  man  of  iron  at  Geneva  emphasizes  pure  morals,  the 
Libertines  defame  their  memory.  Is  it  not  rather  true 
what  ]\Iorus  says  of  Calvin:  "His  holy  zeal  was  a 
righteous  one,  and  it  is  our  drowsiness  only  which  has 
provoked  his  Christian  indignation,  his  tumultuous  and 
stormy  feeling  of  duty.  And  what  remains  for  the 
Christian  if  he  will  not  use  the  sw'ord?  It  is  not  by 
soft  remedies  that  he  could  heal  the  wounds  of  Zion. 
He  would  not  have  gained  his  end,  and  it  would  have 
been  objected  to  him,  'if  you  are  not  yourself  convinced 
in  your  whole  soul,  why  do  you  disturb  the  existing 
order  of  things?'  "  Once  more  we  ask,  has  Dr.  Mc- 
Fctridge  read  the  history  of  the  Reformation  aright 
when  he  writes:  "When  in  the  great  toil  and  roar  of  the 
conflict  the  fiery  nature  of  Luther  began  to  chill,  and 
he  began  to  temporize  with  civil  rulers,  and  to  settle 
down  in  harmony  with  them,  it  was  the  uncompromising 
theology  of  the  Genevan  school  which  heroically  and  tri- 
umphantly waged  the  conflict  to  the  end.  I  but  repeat 
the  testimony  of  history,  friendly  and  unfriendly  to  Cal- 
vinism, when  I  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  strcmg, 
unflinching  systematic  spirit  and  character  of  the  the- 
ology of  Calvin,  the  Reformation  would  have  been  lost 
to  the  world.  Hence  it  was  that  almost  everywhere  the 
Reformation  assumed  a  Calvin  istic  type,  supplanting 
or  absorbing  all  other  reforming  ideas.  Even  in  the 
lands  such  as  Germany  and  Switzerland,  where  the  pe- 


98  JOHN   CALVIN. 

euliarly  Lutheran  ideas  at  first  found  acceptance,  it  was, 
as  Hagenbach  says,  '  through  the  influence  of  Calvinistic 
principles'  that  the  Protestantism  of  those  lands  as- 
sumed an  external  form  and  organization,  and  attained 
to  definite  dimensions  in  the  history  oi  the  world. ' '  We 
are  not  ready  to  subscribe  to  every  word  of  Froude,  but 
his  opinion  in  general  is  certainly  correct  when  he 
writes:  "The  Lutheran  congregations  were  but  half 
emancipated  from  superstition,  and  shrank  from  press- 
ing the  struggle  to  extremities ;  and  half  measures  meant 
lialf-heartedness,  convictions  which  were  but  half  con- 
victions, and  truth  with  an  alloy  of  falsehood.  Half 
measures,  however,  would  not  quench  the  fires  of  Philip 
of  Spain  or  raise  men  in  France  or  Scotland  who  would 
meet  crest  to  crest  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Loraine. 
The  reformers  required  a  position  more  sharply  defined 
and  a  sterner  leader,  and  that  leader  they  found  in 
John  Calvin.  For  hard  times  hard  men  are  needed,  and 
intellects  which  can  pierce  to  the  roots  where  truth 
and  lies  part  company.  It  fares  ill  with  the  soldiers  of 
religion  when  'the  accursed  thing  is  in  the  camp.'  And 
this  is  to  be  said  of  Calvin,  that,  so  far  as  the  state 
of  knowledge  permitted,  no  eye  could  have  detected  more 
keenly  the  unsound  spots  in  the  creed  of  the  church, 
nor  was  there  a  reformer  in  Europe  so  resolute  to  ex- 
ercise, tear  out  and  destroy  what  was  distinctly  seen 
to  be  false — so  resolute  to  establish  what  was  true  in 
its  place,  and  make  truth,  to  the  last  fibre  of  it,  the  rule 
of  practical  life." 

Instead,  therefore,  of  unduly  exalting  one  and  be- 
littling the  other  of  the  reformers,  the  Protestant  world 
should  rejoice  that,  to  speak  in  the  words  of  Goethe,  re- 
ferring to  himself  and  Schiller,  "she  has  two  such  admir- 
able fellows,"  as  Luther  and  Calvin.    The  injection  of  a 


PERSONAL    CHARACTER    OF    CALVllSr.  99 

strong  dose  of  the  "historical  spirit"  into  our  Calvin 
studies,  the  employment  of  modern  methods,  recourse 
to  the  sources  and  a  sympathetic  spirit  will  no  doubt 
bring  us  nearer  to  the  real  Calvin. 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 

TRIBUTES  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  CALVIN. 

In  addition  to  the  appreciation  of  Calvin's  character 
in  the  previous  chapter,  we  wish  to  quote  a  few  of  the 
thousands  of  testimonies,  mostly  from  men  who  were 
not  partisans  of  the  reformer  or  his  cause.  We  begin 
with  his  friend  and  successor: 

Beza:  "He  lived  fifty-four  years,  ten  months  and 
seventeen  days,  half  of  which  time  he  passed  in  the 
sacred  ministry.  His  stature  was  of  a  middle  size,  his 
complexion  dark  and  pallid,  his  eyes  brilliant  even  till 
death,  expressing  the  acuteness  of  his  understanding. 
He  lived  nearly  without  sleep.  His  power  of  memory 
was  almost  incredible,  and  his  judgment  so  sound  that 
his  decisions  often  seemed  almost  oracular.  In  his  words 
he  was  sparing,  and  he  despised  an  artificial  eloquence; 
yet  was  he' an  accomplished  writer,  and  by  the  accuracy 
of  his  mind  and  his  practice  of  dictating  to  an  amanu- 
ensis he  attained  to  speak  little  different  from  what  he 
would  have  written.  The  consistency  and  uniformity 
of  his  doctrine,  from  first  to  last,  are  scarcely  to  be 
paralleled.  Nature  had  formed  him  grave,  yet  in  the 
intercourse  of  social  life  no  one  showed  more  suavity. 
He  exercised  great  forbearance  toward  all  such  infirmi- 
ties in  others  as  are  consistent  with  integrity,  not  over- 
awing his  Aveaker  brethren,  but  toward  flattery  and  every 
species  of  insincerity,  especially  where  religion  was  con- 
cerned, he  was  severe  and  indignant.  He  was  naturally 
irritable  and  this  fault  was  increased  by  the  excessive 
laboriousness  of  his  life;  yet  the  Spirit  of  God  had 
taught  him  to  govern  both  his  temper  and  his  tongue, 

100 


TU'TRTTTES  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  CALVIN.  101 

That  SO  many  and  so  great  virtues,  both  in  public  and 
in  private  life,  should  have  called  forth  against  him 
many  enemies  no  one  will  wonder  who  duly  considers 
what  has  ever  befallen  eminent  men,  both  in  sacred  and 
in  profane  history.  Those  enemies  brand  him  as  a 
heretic,  but  Christ  suffered  under  the  same  reproach. 
He  was  expelled,  say  they,  from  Geneva.  True,  he  was ; 
but  he  was  solicited  to  return.  He  is  charged  with  am- 
bition— yea,  with  aspiring  at  a  new  popedom — an  extra- 
ordinary charge  to'  be  brought  against  a  man  who  chose 
his  kind  of  life,  and  in  this  state,  in  this  church,  which  I 
might  truly  call  the  very  seat  of  poverty.  They  say 
again  that  he  coveted  wealth.  Yet  all  his  worldly  goods, 
including  his  library,  which  brought  a  high  price, 
scarcely  amounted  to  three  hundred  crowns.  Well  might 
he  say  in  his  preface  to  the  book  of  Psalms,  '  That  I  am 
not  a  lover  of  money,  if  I  fail  of  persuading  men  while 
I  live,  my  death  will  demonstrate.'  How  small  his 
stipend  was  the  senate  knows ;  yet  they  can  bear  witness 
that,  so  far  from  being  dissatisfied  with  it,  he  per- 
tinaciously refused  an  increase  Avhen  it  was  offered  him. 
He  delighted,  forsooth,  in  luxury  and  indulgence!  Let 
his  labors  answer  the  charge.  "What  accusations  will  not 
some  men  bring  against  him  1  But  no  refutation  of  them 
is  wanting  to  those  persons  who  ^ew  him  while  he  lived, 
and  they  will  want  none  among  posterity  with  men  of 
judgment  who  shall  collect  his  character  from  his 
writings.  Having  given  with  good  faith  the  history  of 
his  life  and  of  his  death,  after  sixteen  years'  observation 
of  him  I  feel  myself  warranted  to  declare  that  in  him 
was  proposed  to  all  men  an  illustrious  example  of  the 
life  and  death  of  a  Christian ;  so  that  it  will  be  found 
as  difficult  to  emulate  as  it  is  easy  to  calumninto  him." 


102  JOHN    CALVIN. 

Frof.  Theodore  Appel,  in  the  ''Tercentenary  Monu- 
ment": ''Calvin  also  belonged  to  the  heroic  period 

and  as  the  brightest  luminary  in  the  spiritual  firmament 
shed  a  brilliant  light  over  Europe." 

Dr.  H.  A.  Meier,  in  his  " Kirchensgeshiehte " :  "Al- 
though there  is  in  Calvin's  character  a  certain  degree  of 
severity  and  acerbity,  yet  in  his  family  and  in  his  social 
intercourse  he  shows  deep  feeling,  a  conciliatory  spirit 
and  real  sympathy." 

Dr.  Selden:  "Calvin  had  his  faults  and  limitations, 
some  traceable  to  the  temper  and  the  notions  of  the 
times  in  which  he  lived,  some  to  his  disordered  physical 
condition  and  overtaxed  nervous  system,  and  some  to  the 
human  frailty  for  which  we  all  need  broad  charity. ' ' 

Dr.  Newman:  "Aristocratic  by  nature  and  training, 
fitted  to  be  a  leader  of  men,  not  by  his  powers  of  work- 
ing upon  the  emotions,  but  rather  by  his  ability  to  ap- 
peal to  the  moral  and  the  intellectual  faculties;  self- 
sacrificing  in  the  highest  degree,  yet  believing  firmly 
that  his  cause  was  identical  with  the  cause  of  God,  and 
therefore  absolutely  uncompromising  and  almost  despot- 
ical  in  carrying  out  what  he  supposed  loyalty  to  his 
trust  required,  he  could  not  have  failed  of  eminence  in 
any  commimity  that  should  tolerate  his  activity.  He 
combined  moral  earnestness,  learning,  analytical  power 
and  practical  organizing  and  administrative  ability  in 
a  degree  unapproached  by  any  other  Protestant  leader. ' ' 

TrecJisel:  "People  have  often  supposed  that  they 
were  insulting  Calvin's  memory  by  calling  him  the  pope 
of  Protestantism.  He  was  so,  but  in  the  noblest  sense 
of  the  word  through  the  moral  and  spiritual  superiority 
vfith  which  the  Lord  of  the  Church  had  endowed  him. 
His  was  a  p9.pacy  of  truth  and  honor." 


Tlir.ri!  S  TO  THE  MEMORY  01'^  CALVIN.  103 

Baur,  the  founder  of  the  Tuebingen  School  of  N.  T. 
criticism :  ' '  Calvin  was  a  man  of  rare  learning,  of  many- 
sided  culture,  of  a  penetrating  intellect,  of  a  strong  but 
severe  character,  the  equal  of  the  other  reformers  and 
in  point  of  intellectuality  even  excelling  them." 

Dr.  Van  Home,  President  of  the  Central  Theological 
Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church,  Dayton,  Ohio :  ' '  The 
firmness  of  Calvin  in  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  Sovereignty,  even  in  the  process  of  the  sinner's 
salvation,  and  in  emphasizing  the  attribute  of  justice  in 
the  Godhead,  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  St.  Paul  in  Scrip- 
ture, has  committed  the  Reformed  Church  to  this  view 
in  Church  History.  The  human  will,  always  restive 
under  restraint,  is  impatient  of  such  teachings,  and 
writers  frequently  use  the  word  'Calvinism'  as  a  term 
of  reproach,  associating  with  it  the  exaggerated  view 
that  it  is  a  doctrine  of  antagonism  to  God's  goodness, 
and  has  in  it  a  principle  of  fatalism."  (Church  and 
Future  Life,  page  1.)  But  Calvin,  in  his  Institutes, 
III,  23,  8,  says:  "The  perdition  of  the  wicked  depends 
upon  the  divine  predestination  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
cause  and  matter  of  it  are  found  in  themselves.  Man 
falls  according  to  the  appointment  of  Divine  providence, 
but  he  falls  by  his  o^^^l  fault,  'suo  vitio  cadit. '  (Religion 
and  Revelation,  page  133.)  Calvin  here  commits  him- 
self to  the  view  known  as  'pretention,'  that  is,  that 
God  passes  by  those  who  will  not  accept  Him,  and  does 
not  bestow  His  grace  upon  them;  thus  he  is  shielded 
from  the  charge  of  being,  in  any  sense,  a  fatalist." 

Voltaire:  "The  famous  Calvin,  whom  we  regard  as 
the  Apostle  of  Geneva  raised  himself  up  to  the  rank 
of  Pope  of  the  Protestants.  The  severity  of  Calviu 
was  united   with  the   greatest   disinterestedness." 


iOi  JOHN    CALVIN. 

Ancillon:  ''Calvin  was  not  only  a  profound  theo- 
logian, but  likewise  was  an  able  legislator;  the  share 
which  he  had  in  the  framing  of  the  civil  and  religious 
laws  which  have  produced  for  several  centuries  the 
happiness  of  the  Genevan  republic,  is  perhaps  a  fairer 
title  to  renown  than  his  theological  works;  and  this 
republic,  celebrated  notwithstanding  its  small  size,  and 
which  knew  how  to  unite  morals  with  intellect,  riches 
with  simplicity,  simplicity  w^ith  taste,  liberty  with  order, 
and  which  has  been  a  focus  of  talents  and  virtues,  has 
proved  that  Calvin  knew  men,  and  knew  how  to  govern 
them." 

Ouizot,  celebrated  French  historian  and  statesman: 
' '  Calvin  is  great  by  reason  of  his  marvellous  powers,  his 
lasting  labors,  and  the  moral  height  and  purity  of  his 
character.  Earnest  in  faith,  pure  in  motive,  austere  in 
his  life,  and  mighty  in  his  works,  Calvin  is  one  of  those 
who  deserve  their  great  fame.  Three  centuries  sepa- 
rate us  from  him,  but  it  is  impossible  to  examine  his 
character  and  history  without  feeling,  if  not  affection 
and  sympathy,  at  least  profoimd  respect  and  admiration 
for  one  of  the  great  Reformers  of  Europe  and  of  the 
great  Christians  of  France." 

Renan,  a  skeptic:  "Calvin  was  one  of  those  absolute 
men,  cast  complete  in  one  mold,  who  is  taken  in  wholly 
at  a  single  glance:  one  letter,  one  action  suffices  for  a 
judgment  of  him.  There  were  no  folds  in  that  inflexible 
soul,  which  never  knew  doubt  or  hesitation Care- 
less of  wealth,  of  titles,  of  honors,  indifferent  to  pomp, 
modest  in  his  life,  apparently  humble,  sacrificing  every- 
thing to  the  desire  of  making  others  like  himself  I  hardly 
know  of  a  man,  save  Ignatius  Loyola,  who  could  match 

him  in  those  terrible  transports It  is  surprising 

that  a  man  who  appears  to  us  in  his  life  and  writings 


■i'i,'ii;i"rKs  'lo  'I'lii':  MiiMoin'  of  caia'in.  KM 

so  uiisynipathetic  should  have  been  the  center  of  an 
immense  movement  in  liis  generation,  and  that  this  harsh 
and  severe  tone  should  have  exerted  so  great  an  influence 
on  the  minds  of  his  contemporaries.  He  was  the  most 
Christian  man  of  his  century." 

Moshchn:  Calvin  was  venerated,  even  by  his  enemies, 
for  his  genius,  learning,  eloquence,  and  other  endow- 
ments." 

Von  Mueller,  the  great  historian  of  Switzerland: 
"John  Calvin  had  the  spirit  of  an  ancient  lawgiver,  a 
genius  and  characteristic  which  gave  him  in  part  un- 
mistakable advantages,  and  failings  which  were  only  the 
excess  of  virtues,  by  the  assistance  of  which  he  carried 
through  his  objects.  He  had  also,  like  other  Eeformers, 
an  indefatigable  industry,  with  a  fixed  regard  to  a  cer- 
tain end,  and  invincible  perseverance  in  principles  and 
duty  during  his  life,  and  at  his  death  the  courage  and 
dignity  of  an  ancient  Roman  censor.  He  contributed 
greatly  to  the  development  and  advance  of  the  human 
intellect,  and  more,  indeed,  than  he  himself  foresaw. ' ' 

Tlcnry,  author  of  two  learned  biographies  of  Calvin : 
"The  whole  tendency  of  Calvin  was  practical;  learning 
was  subordinate;  the  salvation  of  the  world,  the  truth 
was  to  him  the  main  thing.  His  spiritual  tendency  Avas 
not  philosophical,  but  his  dialectical  bent  ran  principles 
to  their  utmost  consequences.  He  had  an  eye  to  the 
minutest  details.  His  former  study  of  law  had  trained 
him  for  business.  He  was  a  A\atchman  over  the  whole 
church.  All  his  theological  wi-itings  excel  in  acuteness, 
dialectics,  and  warmth  of  conviction.  He  had  great  elo- 
quence at  command,  but  despised  the  art  of  rhetoric." 
Haeusser,  Professor  of  History  at  Heidelberg:  "John 
Calvin,  the  most  remarkable  personage  of  the  time.  He 
settled  the  basis  for  the   development  of  many  states 


J  06  JOHN   CALVIN. 

and  cliurclies.  He  stamped  the  form  of  the  Reformation 
in  countries  to  which  he  was  a  stranger.  The  Frencli 
date  the  beginnings  of  their  literary  development  from 
him,  and  his  influence  was  not  restricted  to  the  sphere 
of  religion,  but  embraced  their  intellectual  life  in  gen- 
eral; no  one  else  has  so  permanently  influenced  the 
spirit  and  form  of  their  written  language  as  he. 

At  a  time  when  Europe  had  no  solid  results  of  reform 
to  show,  this  little  state  of  Geneva  stood  up  as  a  great 
power;  year  by  year  it  sent  forth  Apostles  into  the 
world,  Avho  preached  its  doctrines  everywhere,  and  it  be- 
came the  most  dreaded  counterpoise  to  Rome. 

It  was  impossible  to  oppose  Caraffa,  Philip  II,  and 
the  Stuarts,  with  Luther's  passive  resistance;  men  were 
wanted  who  were  ready  to  wage  war  to  the  knife,  and 
such  was  the  Calvinistic  school.  It  everywhere  accepted 
the  challenge;  throughout  all  the  conflicts  for  politicnl 
and  religious  liberty,  up  to  the  time  of  the  first  emigra- 
tion to  America,  in  France,  the  Netherlands,  England 
and  Scotland,  we  recognize  the  Genevan  school." 

Dorner:  ''Calvin  was  equally  great  in  intellect  and 
character,  lovely  in  social  life,  full  of  tender  sympathy 
and  faithfulness  to  friends,  yielding  and  forgiving 
toward  personal  offenses,  but  inexorably  severe  when  he 
saw  the  honor  of  God  obstinately  and  malignantly  at- 
tacked. He  combined  French  fire  and  practical  good 
sense  with  German  depth  and  soberness.  He  moved 
as  freely  in  the  world  of  ideas  as  in  the  business  of  church 
government.  He  was  an  architectonic  genius  in  science 
and  practical  life,  always  with  an  eye  to  the  holiness 
and  majesty  of  God." 

Kahnis,  a  Lutheran :  ' '  The  fear  of  God  was  the  soul 
of  his  piety,  the  rock-like  certainty  of  his  election  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world  was  his  power,  and  the 


TKIl'.l  TES   TO   TIIK    .MEMORY   OF   CALVIN.  ]  ( )7 

doing  of  the  will  of  God  his  single  aim,  which  he  pur- 
sued with  trembling  and  fear No  other  Reformer 

has  so  well  demonstrated  the  truth  of  Christ's  word 
that,  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  dominion  is  service.  No 
other  had  such  an  energy  of  self-sacrifice,  such  an  irre- 
fragable conscientiousness  in  the  greatest  as  well  as  the 
smallest  things,  such  a  disciplined  power.  This  man, 
whose  dying  body  was  only  held  together  by  the  will 
flaming  from  his  eye,  had  a  majesty  of  character  which 
commanded  the  veneration  of  his  contemporaries." 

Hall:  '^ Reverend  Calvin,  whose  judgment  I  so  much 
honor,  that  I  reckon  him  among  the  best  interpreters  of 
Scriptures  since  the  Apostles  left  the  earth." 

Baxter:  "I  know  no  man,  since  the  Apostle's  days, 
whom  I  value  and  honor  more  than  Calvin,  and  whose 
judgment  in  all  things,  one  with  another,  I  more  esteem 
and  come  nearer  to." 

Sir  William  Hamilton:  "Looking  merely  to  his  learn- 
ing and  ability,  Calvin  was  superior  to  all  modern,  per- 
liaps  to  all  ancient  divines.  Succeeding  ages  have  cer- 
tainly not  exhibited  his  equal.  To  find  his  peer  we  must 
ascend  at  least  to  Aquinas  or  Augustin." 

CiUDiingliam,  the  successor  of  Chalmers,  says:  "Cal- 
vin is  the  man,  who,  next  to  St.  Paul,  has  done  most 
good  to  mankind." 

Dr.  John  Tidloch:  "Nothing,  perhaps,  more  strikes 
us  than  the  contrast  between  the  single  naked  energy 
which  his  character  presents  and  of  which  his  name  has 
become  symbolical,  and  the  grand  issues  which  have  gone 
forth  from  it.  Scarcely  anywhere  else  can  we  trace 
such  an  impervious  potency  of  intellectual  and  moral 
influence  emanating  from  so  narrow  a  center. 

"There  is  in  almost  every  respect  a  singular  dissimi- 
larity between  the  Genevan  and  Wittenberg  reformer. 


108  JOHN   CALVIN. 

In  personal,  moral  and  intellectual  features,  they  st;ind 
contrasted — Luther  with  his  massive  frame,  and  full,  big 
face  and  deep  melancholy  eyes;  Calvin,  of  moderate 
stature,  pale  and  dark  complexion,  and  sparkling  eyes, 
that  burned  nearly  to  the  moment  of  his. death.  (Beza: 
Vita  Calv.)  Luther,  fond  and  jovial,  relishing  his  beer 
and  hearty  family  repasts  with  his  wife  and  children; 
Calvin,  spare  and  frugal,  for  many  years  taking  only  a 
meal  a  day,  and  scarcely  needing  sleep.  In  the  one,  we 
see  a  rich  and  complex  and  buoyant  and  affectionate 
nature  touching  humanit}'  at  every  point,  in  the  other, 
a  stern  and  grave  unity  of  moral  character.  Loth  were 
naturally  of  a  somewhat  proud  and  imperious  temper, 
but  the  violence  of  Luther  is  warm  and  boisterous,  that 
of  Calvin  keen  and  zealous.  It  might  have  been  a  very 
uncomfortable  thing,  as  INIelancthon  felt,  to  be  exposed 
to  Luther's  occasional  storms;  but  after  the  storm  was 
over,  it  was  pleasant  to  be  folded  once  more  to  the  great 
heart  that  was  sorry  for  its  excesses.  To  be  the  o'oject 
of  Calvin's  dislike  and  anger  was  something  to  fill  one 
with  dread,  not  only  for  the  moment,  but  long  after- 
wards, and  at  a  distance,  as  poor  Castellio  felt  Avhen 
he  gathered  the  pieces  of  driftwood  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  at  Basel. 

"In  intellect,  as  in  personal  features,  the  one  was 
grand,  massive  and  powerful,  through  depth  and  com- 
prehension of  feeling  a  profound  but  exaggerated  in- 
sight, and  a  soaring  eloquence;  the  other  was  no  less 
grand  and  powerful,  through  clearness  and  correctness 
of  judgment,  vigor  and  consistency  of  reasoning  and 
weightiness  of  expression.  Both  are  alike  memorable 
in  the  service  which  they  rendered  to  their  native  tongue 
— in  the  increased  compass,  flexibility,  and  felicitous 
mastery  which  they  imparted  to  it.    The  Latin  works  of 


TRTRUTES  TO   THE    MEIMORV   OF  CAEVIN.  ]  00 

Calvin  are  greatly  superior  in  elegance  of  style,  sym- 
metry of  method,  and  proportionate  vigor  of  argimient. 
He  maintains  an  academic  elevation  of  tone,  even  when 
keenly  agitated  in  temper,  while  Luther,  as  Mr.  Hal- 
lam  has  it,  sometimes  descends  to  mere  "bellowing  in 
bad  Latin.'"  Yet  there  is  a  coldness  in  the  elevation  of 
Calvin,  and  in  his  correct  and  well-balanced  sentences, 
for  which  we  should  like  ill  to  exchange  the  kindly 
though  rugged  paradoxes  of  Luther.  The  German  had 
the  more  rich  and  teeming — the  Genevan  the  harder, 
more  serviceable  and  enduring  mind.  "When  interrupted 
in  dictating  for  several  hours,  Beza  tells  us  that  he 
could  return  and  commence  where  he  had  left  off;  and 
that  amidst  all  the  multiplicity  of  his  engagements,  he 
never  forgot  w^hat  he  required  to  know  for  the  perform- 
ance of  any  duty. 

"As  preachers,  Calvin  seems  to  have  commanded  a 
scarcely  less  powerful  success  than  Luther,  although  of 
a  different  character — the  one  stimulating  and  rousing, 
"boiling  over  in  every  direction" — the  other  instructive, 
argumentative,  and  calm  in  the  midst  of  his  vehemence 
(Beza:  Vita  Calv.).  Luther  flashed  forth  his  feelings 
at  the  moment,  never  being  able  to  compose  what  might 
be  called  a  regular  sermon,  but  seizing  the  principal 
subject,  and  turning  all  his  attention  to  that  alone. 
Calvin  was  elaborate  and  careful  in  his  sermons  as  in 
everything  else.  The  one  thundered  and  lightened,  fill- 
ing the  souls  of  his  hearers  now  with  shadoA\y  awe,  and 
now  with  an  intense  glow  of  spiritual  excitement;  the 
other,  like  the  broad  daylight,  filled  them  with  a  more 
diffusive  though  less  exhilarating  clearness 

"An  impression  of  majesty  and  yet  of  sadness  must 
ever  linger  around  the  name  of  Calvin.  He  was  great 
and  we  admire  him.     The  world  needed  him  and  we 


110  JOHN  CALVtN. 

honor  him;  but  we  cannot  love  him.  He  repels  our  affec- 
tions while  he  extorts  our  admiration;  and  while  we 
recognize  the  worth,  and  the  divine  necessity  of  his  life 
and  work,  we  are  thankful  to  survey  them  at  a  distance, 
and  to  believe  that  there  are  also  other  modes  of  divinely 
governing  the  world,  and  advancing  the  kingdom  of 
righteousness  and  truth. 

''Limited,  as  compared  with  Luther,  in  his  personal 
influence  apparently  less  the  man  of  the  hour  in  a  great 
crisis  of  human  progress,  Calvin  towers  far  above  Luther 
in  the  general  influence  over  the  world  of  thought  and 
the  course  of  history,  which  a  mighty  intellect,  inflexible 
in  its  convictions  and  constructive  in  its  genius,  never 
fails  to  exercise." 

Dr.  Smith:  "Calvin's  system  of  doctrine  and  polity 
has  shaped  more  minds  and  entered  into  more  nations 
than  that  of  any  other  Reformer.  In  every  land  it  made 
men  strong  against  the  attempted  interference  of  the 
secular  power  with  the  rights  of  the  Christians.  It  gave 
courage  to  the  Huguenots ;  it  shaped  the  theology  of  the 
Palatinate ;  it  prepared  the  Dutch  for  the  heroic  defense 
of  their  national  rights ;  it  has  controlled  Scotland  to  the 
present  hour;  it  formed  the  Puritanism  of  England;  it 
has  been  the  basis  of  the  New  England  character,  and 
everywhere  it  has  led  to  the  way  in  practical  reforms. 
His  theology  assumed  different  types  in  the  various 
countries  into  which  it  penetrated,  while  retaining  its 
fundamental  traits." 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  who,  on  the  whole,  shows  little  sym- 
pathy for  Calvin,  nevertheless  writes:  "Upon  the  whole, 
the  verdict  of  history  is  growingly  in  favor  of  Calvin. 
He  improves  upon  acquaintance.  Those  who  know  him 
best  esteem  him  most.  All  impartial  writers  admit  the 
purity  and  integrity,  if  not  the  sanctity  of  his  character 


T;  IIHTES  TO  THE   IMEMOKV   OK  CALVIN.  1  1  1 

and  his  absolute  freedom  from  love  of  gain  and  notori- 
ety. Those  who  judge  of  his  character  from  his  conduct 
in  the  case  of  Servetus,  and  of  his  theology  from  the 
"decretum  horribile, "  see  the  spots  on  the  sun,  but 
not  the  sun  itself.  He  must  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the 
greatest  and  best  of  men  whom  God  raised  in  the  history 
of  Christianity.  He  has  been  called  by  competent  judges 
of  different  creeds  and  schools,  ''the  theologian  par  ex- 
cellence," "the  Aristotle  of  the  reformation,"  "the 
Thomas  Aquinas  of  the  Reformed  Church,"  "the  Ly- 
eurgus  of  a  Christian  democracy,"  "the  pope  of  Gen- 
eva." He  has  been  compared  as  a  church  ruler  to 
Gregory  VII  and  Innocent  III.  The  sceptical  Renan 
even,  who  entirely  dissents  from  his  theology,  calls  him 
"the  most  Christian  man  of  his  age."  Such  a  com- 
bination of  theoretic  and  practical  pre-eminence  is  with- 
out parallel  in  history.  He  may  be  called  a  Christian 
Elijah.  His  symbol  was  a  hand  offering  the  sacrifice 
of  a  burning  heart  to  God.  The  Council  of  Geneva  Avere 
impressed  with  "the  great  majesty"  of  his  character.  This 
significant  expression  accounts  for  his  overawing  power 
over  his  many  enemies  in  Geneva,  who  might  easily  have 
crushed  him  at  any  time.  Calvin's  character  is  less  at-~ 
tractive  than  Luther's  or  Zwingli's,  but  he  left  his 
church  in  a  much  better  condition.  He  lacked  the  gonial 
element  of  humor  and  pleasantry;  he  was  a  Christian 
stoic:  stern,  unbending,  severe,  yet  with  fires  of  passion 
and  affection  glowing  beneath  the  marble  surface.  He 
surpassed  both  in  consistency  and  self-discipline  and 
still  exerts  more  influence  than  any  other  reformer  upon 
the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  Latin  and  English  races 
Calvin's  intellectual  endowments  were  of  the  highest 
order  and  thoroughly  disciplined.  His  talents  rose  to 
the  full  height  of  genius.     He  never  wrote  a  dull  line. 


112  JOHN   CALVIN. 

His  judgment  was  sc  exact,  as  Beza  remarks,  it  often  ap- 
peared like  prophecy. ' ' 

Dr.  Piper:  ''In  Germany,  the  common  nicknames  are: 
Luther,  Dickkopf ;  Calvin,  Spitzkopf ;  i.  e.,  Luther,  thick- 
head; Calvin,  longhead.  In  the  vulgar  wit  of  the  crowd 
there  is  often  found  a  good  deal  of  shrewd  judgment. 
The  two  names  indicate  the  key-note  of  the  two  char- 
acters. Luther's  invincible  stuhhornness  and  daring 
swayed  the  minds  of  others  in  a  simply  inexplicable 
manner,  and  Calvin's  keenness,  which  at  times  carried 
him  almost  beyond  limits.  His  lofty  soul  turned. his 
clear  gaze  towards  God's  countenance  and  the  face  of 
His  holy  angels,  of  whom  he  so  often  makes  mention, 
as  if  he  could  with  his  bodily  eyes  almost  see  the  in- 
visible. From  Calvin  a  new  civilization'  proceeded,  yet 
it  is  only  by  higher  natures  that  he  is  understood.  By 
weak  and  inferior  minds,  and  anti-Christian  hearts  he 
has  always  been  misunderstood  and  liated,  even  cursed, 
US  Luther  also  is." 


Calvin  at  Study 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CALVIN,  THE  THEOLOGIAN. 

Calvin  was  an  exceedingly  busy  man.  This  will  be 
sufficiently  apparent  from  the  review  we  have  given  of 
the  events  of  his  career.  In  this  and  the  following  chap- 
ters we  intend  to  summarize  his  activity  as  a  systematic 
theologian,  a  Bible  student,  a  preacher,  a  pastor,  an  edu- 
cator, and  a  statesman. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  Melancthon  was  right 
when  he  greeted  Calvin  as  ''the  theologian"  among  the 
reformers.  Scaliger  considers,  him  "the  greatest  genius 
the  world  had  seen  since  the  apostles;"  the  Roman 
Catholic  bishop  of  Valence  called  him  "the  greatest  di- 
vine in  the  world."  Calvin's  nature  and  training  eon- 
spired  to  make  him  an  eminent  systematic  theologian. 
Conspicuous  among  the  many  books  he  wrote  are  his 
"Institutes"  and  the  numerous  commentaries  on  the 
various  books  of  the  Bible. 

Of  Calvin's  first-named  work,  the  "Institutes  of  the 
Christian  Religion,"  a  brief  account  has  been  given  in 
a  previous  chapter.  By  the  enemies  of  the  reformation, 
the  book  was  called  the  "Koran  of  the  Heretics,"  be- 
cause it  was  known  and  used  and  revered  in  all  sections 
of  the  Reformed  Church.  Calvin  repeat.ediv  declares 
Ijiat  he  had  no  purely  scipnt^fi^  ^^  /jngTYigfi^  ^n^  '^^  vie'^^ 
in  the  composition  of  this  work.  It  was  his  desire  to 
lead  good  and  faithful  souls  into  the  .way  of  salvation. 
He  never  lost  sight  of  this  great  end.  It  is  his  distin- 
guishing quality,  and  it  is  evident  in  all  parts  of  the 
book.  His^endeavor_to^  combine  simplicity  with  scien- 
tific exactness,  places  the  work  in  singular  contrast  with 

114 


CALVIN,   THE  TnEOt.OGIAN.  115 

those  written  on  a  similar  plan  in  later  times.  It  makes 
the  book  equally  useful  for  the  learned  and  the  un- 
learned Christian.  To  accomplish  the  purpose  of  jthe 
book,  he  employed  every  means  at  his  command — the 
Scriptures,  the  writings  of  thn  fathers,  his  owm  Christinn 
experiences,  his  string  rpngnnincr  fqpnitipn  find  hw.  con- 
science__enlighteneri  by  the  Spirit  "f  ^"^  It  will  ever 
be  to  Calvin's  great  honor  that  speculative  as  he  was  by 
nature  he  uniformly  subjected  his  powerful  mind  to 
the  "Word  of  God.  and  consecrated  his  logical  acuteness 
to  the  service  of  the  truth. 

The  first  edition  of  the  "Institutes"  was  published  in 
1535,  at  Basel,  in  the  Latin  language  and  contained  only 
six  chapters,  entitled  as  follows:  1.  ''Of  the  Law  (an 
explanation  of  the  decalogue)  ;  2.  "Of  Faith  (an  expla- 
nation of  the  Apostle's  Creed);"  3.  "Of  Prayer  (an 
explanation  of  the  Lord's  Prayer)  ;  4.  Of  the  Sacra- 
ments (baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper)  ;"  5.  "Of  the 
Sacraments  (the  falsity  of  the  five  which  the  Romish 
church  has  added)  ;"  6.  "Of  Christian  Liberty  (power 
of  the  church  and  the  state)."  The  final  revision  of 
1559  has  eighty-four  chapters.  So,  while  he  never 
changed  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  book,  Calvin  never 
ceased  revising  and  completing  their  presentation. 

Calvin  is  often  compared  with  the  church  father  Au- 
gustine, who  died  430  as  Bishop  of  Hippo,  in  North 
Africa.  Both  men  lay  stress  on  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul, 
and  both  strongly  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  predestina- 
tion. While  Augustine,  perhaps,  ought  to  be  ranked 
higher  as  a  spiritual  writer,  Calvin  is  no  doubt  the 
greater  as  an  acute  and  logical  reasoner.  He  is  simpler 
and  more  energetic  than  Augustine,  and  keeps  his  object 
more  constantlv  in  view. 


1  1()  JOHN    CAIA'IN. 

Two  weapons  were  at  once  called  into  action  to  destroy 
the  influence  of  this  great  book — controversy  and  sup- 
pression. Cotton,  the  confessor  of  Henry  IV,  wrote 
against  it  in  his  "Catholic  Institutes,"  and  in  Paris  the 
imiversity  ordered  the  book  to  be  burned  in  public. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  writings  of  great  men  in  former 
ages  and  at  the  present  time,  are  full  of  praise  of  this 
great  work.  The  German  theologian  Bretschneider  says : 
''While  we  have  no  work  by  either  Luther  or  Zwingli, 
in  which  they  might  have  exhibited  their  whole  doctrine 
reduced  to  a  sj'stem,  and  accompanied  by  the  necessary 
proofs  and  so  might  have  furnished  a  defense  against 
imnumbered  controversies,  Calvin,  on  the  other  hand, 
at  an  early  period  connected  the  truths  of  the  reforma- 
tion in  a  systematic  form ;  defended  every  point  with 
proof,  the  strongest  and  most  excellent  known  at  that 
time,  and  secured  them  against  all  opposition.  Of  this, 
his  justly  celebrated  "Institutes"  afford  ample  testi- 
mony,— a  work  which  ought  not  to  be  so  neglected  as  it 
is  by  the  theologians  of  our  times,  and  not  even  by  the 
Lutherans.  It  contains  a  treasure  of  admJralile  thoughts, 
of  acute  explications  and  fine  remarks,  and  is  written  in 
an  elegant,  lively  and  eloquent  style.  The  Lutheran 
Church  has  only  something  similar  in  Melancthon's 
famous  "Loci,"  which,  however,  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  Calvin's  work  for  close  arrangement,  solidity  of 
proof,  strength  of  argument,  and  completeness  of  system. " 
Nor  is  this  admiration  confined  to  Orthodox  Protestants. 
Dr.  Baur,  the  founder  of  the  Tubingen  school  of  his- 
torical criticism,  declares  this  book  of  Calvin  to  be  "in 
every  respect  a  truly  classical  work,  distinguished  in  a 
high  degree  by  originality  and  acuteness  of  conception, 
systematic  consistency  and  clear,  luminous  method." 
And  Dr.  Hase  pointedly  calls  it  "the  grandest  scientific 


CAIiVlN,   THE   THEOLOGIAN.  117 

justification  of  Augustinianism,  full  of  religious  depth 
with  inexorable  consistency  of  thought." 

Next  in  order  of  time,  but  of  equal  importance,  come 
his  great  commentaries  on  the  Bible.  Almost  to  the  end 
of  his  life  he  either  wrote  new  commentaries  or  issued 
revised  editions.  With  the  exception  of  the  books  of 
Judges,  Ruth,  Samuel,  Kings,  Esther,  Nehemiah,  Ezra, 
Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  The  Song  of  Solomon  and  Reve- 
lation, Calvin  commented  on  the  whole  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. In  all  of  these  books  may  be  noticed  four  im- 
portant qualities — doctrinal  impartiality,  exegetical  tact, 
great  learning  and  deep  piety.  In  his  commentary  on- 
Romans,  Calvin  expressed  his  o\\ti  ideas  on  the  duty  of 
a  commentator:  "I  remember  that  when  we  had  a 
friendly  conversation  together,  three  years  ago,  on  the 
best  manner  of  interpreting  Scripture,  that  which  you 
preferred  seemed  also  the  most  useful  to  me.  We  both 
considered  the  most  excellent  quality  in  an  expositor  is 
clearness  combined  with  brevity,  it  being  his  particular 
duty  to  exhibit  the  spirit  of  the  writer,  whence  he  errs 
from  his  proper" line  in  proportion  as  he  turns  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader  from  the  writer  on  which  he  is  em- 
ployed. We  therefore  wished  that  some  one  might  arise 
among  those  who  devote  themselves  to  this  branch  of 
theology,  who  would  undertake  to  facilitate  the  study  of 
Scripture,  without  carrying  the  student  through  too 
great  a  mass  of  commentaries.  How  far  I  have  succeeded 
in  this  attempt,  I  leave  you  and  my  readers  to  judge. 
Many  writers,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  have 
been  engaged  on  this  epistle.  Their  labors  have  been 
well  employed,  for  he  who  understands  this  portion  of 
Scripture  has  opened  to  himself  a  door  by  which  he 
may  proceed  to  the  comprehension  of  the  whole  of  the 
divine  Word.     Among  the  later  expositors,  :Melancthon 


118  JOnN   CALVIN. 

is  distinguislied  for  learning,  ingenuity  and  skill — qual- 
ities which  he  has  exhibited  in  all  the  various  depart- 
ments of  literature.  Hence  he  has  thrown  much  more 
light  on  Scripture  than  those  who  preceded  him.  His 
object,  however,  appears  to  have  been  to  examine  only 
the  more  remarkable  difficulties  of  Scripture.  He,  there- 
fore, designedly  passes  over  many  things  which  may 
perplex  an  ordinary  mind.^  Bullinger  followed  and 
earned  much  praise  uniting,  as  he  did,  with  learning, 
great  readiness  and  ability.  At  length,  Bucer  has  given 
us  the  results  of  his  studies,  and  set  the  crown  to  all. 
Bucer,  as  is  well  known  to  you,  is  surpassed  by  none 
of  his  contemporaries  in  depth  or  variety  of  learning,  in 
clearness  of  intellect,  in  extent  of  reading,  or  other  ex- 
cellencies, but  he  deserves  the  still  more  eminent  praise 
that  he  has  devoted  himself  with  greater  diligence  than 
any  one  of  our  times  to  the  exposition  of  Scripture.  To 
measure  myself  with  these  men  would  be  a  rivalry  that 
has  never  entered  my  thoughts;  he  thus  continues  to 
enjoy  the  honor  and  respect  accorded  them  by  all  good 
men.  But  still  it  will  be  granted  me,  I  trust,  that 
no  human  work  can  ever  be  so  perfect  in  its  structure 
as  to  leave  nothing  for  the  diligence  of  those  who  come 
after  to  accomplish.  All  that  I  venture  to  say  for  my- 
self is,  that  I  do  not  regard  the  present  work,  which  I 
have  been  led  to  undertake  with  no  other  thought  than 
that  of  promoting  the  good  of  the  church,  as  altogether 
useless.  Philip  (Melancthon)  has  expoimded  only  such 
chapters  as  he  found  necessary  to  his  object.  Bucer  is 
too  lengthy  to  be  read  by  men  who  have  many  other 
things  to  engage  them,  and  too  profound  to  be  under- 
stood by  humble  and  not  very  attentive  minds."  Ar- 
minius,  Calvin's  great  opponent  in  Holland,  has  this 
to  say  on  the  commentaries :  ' '  After  the  Holy  Scriptures, 


CAI.VIX,   THE   THEOLOGIAN.  119 

I  exhort  the  students  to  read  the  commentaries  of  Cal- 
vin ;  for  I  tell  them  that  he  is  incomparable  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture,  and  that  his  commentaries 
ought  to  be  held  in  greater  estimation  than  all  that  is 
delivered  to  us  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Christian 
fathers;  so  that,  in  a  certain  eminent  spirit  of  prophecy, 
I  give  the  pre-eminence  to  him  beyond  most  others,  in- 
deed beyond  them  all." — A  most  remarkable,  almost 
unique,  testimony  from  a  doctrinal  opponent. 

Professor  Tholuck,  who  published  a  new  edition  of 
Calvin's  then  almost  forgotten  commentaries,  makes  the 
folloM'ing  observations  on  Calvin's  exegetical  talent: 
"Calvin  was  skillful  and  happy  in  his  exposition  of 
grammatical  sense,  in  his  correct  explanation  of  par- 
ticular expressions  and  in  his  inquiries  into  the  historical, 
poetical  and  prophetic  sense  of  important  passages.  We 
admire  his  simple,  elegant  style,  his  dogmatic  freedom, 
the  tact  with  which  he  treats  his  subjects,  his  great 
learning  and  profound  piet3\  His  diction  is  elegant,  and 
his  expressions  are  neat  and  to  the  point.  He  does  not 
fall  into  digressions,  as  Luther  and  his  friends  so  often 
did,  who  were  engaged  in  explaining  particular  heads 
of  doctrine,  rather  than  in  writing  connected  commen- 
taries. Calvin  also  breaks  out  occasionally  into  violent 
declamation  against  the  pope;  but  he  does  this  much 
less  frequently  tlian  his  contemporaries.  Severe  dogma- 
tician  that  he  was  he  avoids  expositions  in  favor  of 
specific  doctrines  if  thereby  he  had  to  contradict  or- 
dinary laws  of  language.  Unlike  Luther,  he  employed 
historical  criticism  rather  than  depend  too  much  on  sub- 
jective opinion.  He  spent  less  time  in  critical  inquiries,  his 
interest  lying  in  the  direction  of  theological  exposition. 
Very   few  forced  explanations  are  to  be   found   in  his 


120  JOHN   CAIiVIN. 

commentaries.    His  learning  is  evident  but  lie  leaves  it 
in  the  background. 

We  append  here  a  few  extracts  on  Calvin's  work  as 
an  expositor  from  Dr.  F.  W.  Farrer,  a  man  in  general 
not  friendly  to  the  reformer.  He  says:  "The  greatest 
exegete  and  theologian  of  the  reformation,  was  undoubt- 
edly Calvin.  His  commentaries,  almost  alone  among 
those  of  his  epoch,  are  still  a  living  force,  which  is  proved 
by  their  translation  into  various  languages  and  their 
re-publication  in  every  generation  until  very  recently. 
They  are  far  more  profound  than  those  of  Zwingli,  mor(3 
thorough  and  scientific,  if  less  original  and  less  spiritual, 
than  those  of  Luther.  He  is  one  of  the  greatest  inter- 
preters of  Scripture  who  ever  lived.  He  was  a  foe  to 
all  vagueness,  prolixity  and  digression.  He  never  drags 
his  weary  reader  through  a  bewildering  mass  of  opinions, 
of  which  some  are  absurd,  a  majority  impossible,  and  of 
which  all  but  one  must  be  wrong.  He  will  not  tamper 
with  allegory,  even  for  homiletic  purposes.  He  says: 
''It  is  better  to  confess  ignorance  than  to  play  with 
frivolous  guesses.  He  did  not  hold  the  theory  of  verbal 
dictation.  He  will  never  defend  or  harmonize  what  he 
regards  as  an  oversight  or  mistake  in  the  sacred  writers. 
In  Genesis  3:  15  he  says  that  ''seed"  is  a  collective  term 
for  "posterity,"  and  was  only  interpreted  of  Christ 
by  subsequent  experience.  He  will  not  admit  the  force 
of  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Trinity  drawn  from  the 
plural  "let  us  make,"  nor  from  the  three  angels  who 
'appeared  to  Abraham,  nor  from  the  Trisagion  (Isaiah 
6:3.)  He  anticipates  modern  criticism  in  his  views 
about  the  Messianic  prophecies.  He  strongly  believed 
in  the  reality  of  those  predictions  but  held  that  they 
were  primarily  applicable  to  the  -events  and  circum- 
stances of  the  days  when  uttered.     He  conceives  it  to 


CAIAIN.    Till':    'I'lll';    lOClAX.  llil 

be  the  first  business  of  an  interpreter  to  let  his  author 
say  what  he  docs  say,  instead  of  attributing  to  him  what 
we  tliink  he  ought  to  say.  Like  Luther,  he  was  in  love 
with  the  Psalter,  which  he  calls  'an  anatomy  of  all  the 
parts  of  the  soul.'  There  are  instances  in  which  the 
dogmatist  gets  the  better  of  tlie  cxegete." 


•'•yi^giJkSBtttKK^'^''^"-'        '^^^^^^^1 

If 

CHAPTER    XX. 

CALVIN,  THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR. 

Calvin,  unlike  Luther  and  Zwingli,  had  not  received 
full  ordination  to  the  Roman  priesthood,  but  only  the 
tonsure.  The  assertion  of  the  Romanists  and  Prelatists 
that  "Calvin  was  never  ordained"  is,  hov^rever,  untrue. 
He  was  appointed  by  the  Council  of  Geneva  and  set 
apart  by  the  presbytery  which  existed  when  he  came 
to  Geneva.  Calvin  several  times  alludes  to  his  ordination 
but  never  mentions  time  and  circumstances  of  the  same. 

llomiletics,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  did  not 
exist  at  the  time  of  the  reformation ;  the  art  of  speaking, 
or  speaking  as  an  art,  was  even  despised,  and  the  in- 
spired Word  only  was  desired.  Yet,  following  the 
natural  bent  of  his  mind,  Calvin  laid  stress  on  logical 
arrangement  and  was  far  more  orderly  in  his  discourses 
than  Luther,  Avhile  of  Luther's  popular  eloquence  he  had 
very  little.  Conspicuous  in  his  sermons  are  the  wealth  of 
thought,  the  depth  of  judgment  and  the  originality  of 
his  ideas.  ITis  style  is  remarkably  simple  and  his  method 
synthetic.  Calvin  preached  extempore.  He  frequently 
declares  that  the  power  of  God  could  only  pour  itself 
forth  in  extemporaneous  speech.  In  his  letter  to  Lord 
Somerset,  he  expresses  himself  very  distinctly  against 
the  reading  of  sermons,  saying:  "The  people  must  be 
taught  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  may  be  inwardly 
convinced  and  made  to  feel  the  truth  of  what  the  Apostle 
says,  that  the  Word  of  God  'is  a  two-edged  sword.' 
I  say  this  to  your  Highness  because  there  is  too  little 
of  living  preaching  in  your  kingdom,  sermons  there 
being  mostly  read  or  recited.    I  understand  well  enough 


124  JOHN   CALVIN. 

what  obliges  you  to  adopt  this  habit.  There  are  few 
good,  useful  preachers,  such  as  you  wish  to  have; 
and  you  fear  that  levity  and  foolish  imaginations  might 
be  the  consequence,  as  is  often  the  case,  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  new  sj'stem.  But  all  this  must  yield  to  the 
command  of  Christ  which  orders  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  And  this  preaching  must  not  be  dead,  but  liv- 
ing, for  doctrine,  for  correction,  for  edification.  So 
that  when  a  Christian  enters  the  church,  he  may  be 
moved  to  penitence,  and  be  inwardly  convinced.  The 
•  preachers  ought  not  to  wish  to  shine  in  the  ornaments 
of  rhetoric,  but  the  spirit  of  God  should  be  echoed  by 
their  voices."  Calvin  broke  loose  from  the  system  of 
the  pericopes  of  the  church  year  and  used  free  texts. 
Some  of  his  extant  sermons  are  based  on  four  texts. 
His  sermons  in  the  form  in  which  we  have  them  are 
4:ather  short.  It  is  said  that  he  rarely  preached  longer 
y  than  half  an  hour.  Luther  also  has  expressed  himself, 
very  humorously,  in  favor  of  brevity :  ' '  Tritt  f est  auf , 
thu's  Maul  auf,  hor  bald  auf."  Calvin's  sermons  which 
have  come  to  us  were  taken  down  by  students.  One 
of  his  hearers  writes:  "Calvin  being  asthmatic  and 
speaking  very  deliberately,  it  is  easy  to  write  down  all 
that  he  says."  But  for  this  remark,  the  style  of  the 
sermons  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  they  had  been 
spoken  with  great  fire,  rapidity  and  force.  It  is  even 
said  that  he  often  broke  off,  and  made  long  pauses,  to 
give  the  hearers  time  to  consider  his  remarks.  Although 
not  naturally  eloquent  himself,  he  appreciated  the  power 
of  eloquence.  "You  must  take  care,"  he  says,  "as  far 
as  possible,  to  have  good  trumpets,  such  as  may  penetrate 
deepest  into  the  heart."  His  fame  as  a  thoughtful  and 
impressive  speaker  remained  imimpaired  to  his  late.-.t 
years,  and  sometimes  attracted  the  notice  of  the  govern- 


CALVIN,  THE  PREACHER  AND  I'AS'I'OR.  125 

merit,  as  seen  from  the  minutes  of  the  council  of  Jun  i 
19,  1559,  which  say  that  a  great  multitude  of  peoplf; 
attended  the  sermons  of  Calvin.  One  unique  institu- 
tion, the  "congregational"  preaching,  was  introduced 
\)y  him  and  was  continued  for  two  hundred  years  after 
his  death.  It  consisted  of  a  sermon  to  the  adult  por- 
tion of  the  congregation  preached  on  Friday.  After 
the  sermon,  any  one  was  at  liberty  to  make  remarks,  ask 
questions  and  discuss  the  sermon  with  the  preacher. 
This  was  conducive  to  intelligent  instruction  of  the 
people  and  awakened  great  interest  in  religious  subjects. 

We  append  here  Dr.  Dargan  's  estimate  of  Calvin  as  a 
preacher.  He  says:  "Beza  somewhere  naively  remarks 
that  if  Farel's  fire  and  Viret's  winsomeness  had  been 
added  to  Calvin's  qualities,  the  combination  would  have 
made  a  well-nigh  perfect  preacher.  As  it  was,  the  de- 
fects of  Calvin's  character  showed  themselves  in  his 
work  as  a  preacher.  There  is  lack  of  sympathy  and 
charm,  deficiency  of  imagination,  sparing  use  of  illus- 
trations, no  poetic  turn,  no  moving  appeal,  no  soaring 
eloquence.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  virtues  of  the 
man  and  the  endoAvments  of  the  intellect  were  great  and 
telling.  Courage,  candor,  love  of  truth,  devotion  to  duty, 
fidelity  to  principle  and  to  friends,  earnestness  of  pur- 
pose, consecration  to  God  and  absorption  in  his  work — 
these  and  other  splendid  traits  make  us  almost  forget  the 
defects  that  have  been  mentioned.  And  his  marvellous 
intellect — capacious,  penetrating,  profound,  so  wins  ad- 
miration that  we  have  to  remember  that,  in  him  sym- 
pathy and  imagination  were  not  equal  to  reason  and  in- 
sight. 

In  Calvin's  preaching,  the  expository  method  of  the 
Reformation  preachers  finds  emphasis.  His  commen- 
taries were  the  fruits  of  his  preaching  and  lecturing, 


126  JOHN   CALVIN. 

and  his  sermons  were  commentaries  extended  and  ap- 
plied. Mostly  in  the  homily  form  of  verse  by  verse  com- 
ment, there  is  yet  in  them  a  march  of  thought,  a  logical 
sequence  that  simply  did  not  choose  to  express  itself  in 
the  scholastic  analysis.  In  truth,  this  lack  of  analysis 
and  clearly  defined  connection  is  remarkable  in  a  man  of 
Calvin's  logical  power.  It  shows  how  the  commentator 
got  the  better  of  the  preacher.  Yet  his  sermons  are  not 
mere  commentaries.  There  is  a  quickness  of  perception, 
a  sureness  of  touch,  a  power  of  expression  that  unite 
to  make  the  thought  of  Scripture  stand  out  and  produce 
its  own  impression  without  the  aid  of  the  orator's  art. 
The  style  was  clear,  vigorous  and  pointed,  without  orna- 
ment, but  chastely  and  severely  elegant ;  without  warmth, 
but  intense  and  vigorous.  We  do  not  wonder  that  Boss- 
uet.    Catholic    and    orator,    should   find    Calvin's   style 

f  "triste"  (sad,  gloomy)  ;  but  Beza,  who  knew  the  effect 
of  his  preaching,  said  of  him  "that  every  word  weighed 
a  pound — tot  verba  tot  pondera."  Calvin  had  no  strik- 
ing presence,  nor  rich  and  sonorous  voice,  but  he  had  a 
commanding  will  that  needed  no  physical  strength  to 
supplement  it,  and  a  sustained  intensity  of  conviction 

VVthat  could  spare  the  help  of  a  flowing  eloquence. 
f-  And  so,  though  the  highest  qualities  of  oratory  found 
no  place  in  Calvin's  preaching,  the  power  of  his  thought, 
the  force  of  his  will,  the  excellence  of  his  style,  and, 
above  all,  the  earnestness  with  which  he  made  the  truth 
of  God  shine  forth  in  his  words  made  him  a  great 
preacher  and  deeply  impressed  on  his  hearers  the  great 
verities  of  the  Christian  faith. 

While  the  sermon,  with  Calvin,  was  the  centre  of  the 
service,  it  was  not  the  all  in  all.  He  believed  in  plain 
yet  impressive  preliminary  services.  As  in  all  Re- 
formed churches,   extemporaneous  prayer  was  encour- 


CALVIN,  THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  127 

aged  but  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  and  to  guard  the 
people  against  the  eccentricities  of  their  ministers,  he 
introduced  a  liturgy.  Here,  again,  he  differed  from 
Luther  and  Zwingli.  The  former  retained  too  much  of 
the  Romish  Mass-service,  and  in  German  Switzerland 
the  order  of  service  to  this  day  is  extremely  bare  and 
plain,  while  Zwingli 's  communion  service  was  almost 
an  abbreviated  mass,  as  fdr  as  the  order  and  fullness  of 
material  is  concerned.  Calvin's  creative  mind  intro- 
duced new  forms,  in  which  he  followed  the  order  of 
service  in  the  churches  at  Strasburg  and  wliicli  he  based 
on  the  order  of  the  primitive  services  as  described  by 
Justin  Martyn,  who  lived  in  the  second  century,  in  his 
Larger  Apology.  Dr.  Ebrard  sees  in  Calvin's  order  of 
service  a  masterpiece  of  order  and  simplicity,  combined 
with  reverence  and  dignity.  The  elements  were  as 
follows:  1.  Reading  of  the  Ten  Commandments  by  a  lay 
reader;  2.  Confession  of  sin,  the  people  kneeling;  3. 
Psalm  singing;  4.  General  prayer ;  5.  Text  and  sermon  ; 
6.  Free  prayer;  7.  Psalm  singing;  8.  Benediction.  In 
some  copies  we  find  inserted  the  "Apostolic  Salutation," 
after  the  confession,  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  before  the 
benediction.  The  pulpit  furniture  in  Geneva  w^as  re- 
duced to  the  pulpit  proper,  in  which  the  minister  re- 
mains sitting  during  the  entire  service,  a  reading  desk 
for  the  lay  reader  and  a  plain  table  for  the  communion. 

Calvin  expresses  his  love  of  simplicity  in  a  letter  to 
Farel,  where  he  says:  "I  told  Melancthon  to  his  face 
that  I  was  displeased  with  the  multiplicity  of  ceremonies 
which  Luther  suffered  to  exist.  But  INIelancthon  an- 
swered that  it  was  necessary  in  Saxony  to  yield  some 
W'hat  to  the  canonists,  and  that  Luther  himself  liked 
the  ceremonies  which  they  w^ere  obliged  to  retain  as 
little  as  he  did  the  flatness  of  the  Swiss  churches." 


128  JOHN   CALVIN. 

'Calvin  was  a  churchman  in  the  good  sense  of  the 
word.  He  laid  the  utmost  stress  on  church  life,  as  a 
means  of  developing  and  directing  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual. "The  church  is  our  mother,"  he  writes.  "This 
designation  itself  shows  how  useful  and  necessary  it  is 
to  know  her.  For  we  cannot  otherwise  enter  into  life 
than  if  we  are  generated  in  her  womb,  nourished  at  her 
breasts,  and  kept  under  her  guardianship  and  tutelage 
until,  freed  from  this  mortal  body,  we  become  like  the 
angels.  Accordingly,  God  has  endowed  her  with  a  teaching 
office,  to  which  believers  are  bound  to  render  obedi- 
ence, and  has  bestowed  upon  her  the  duty  and  right 
to  enact  laws  and  to  administer  church  discipline,  be- 
cause no  society  can  exist  without  order  and  discipline. ' ' 
He  compares  doctrine  with  the  soul  and  discipline  with 
the  nerves,  through  which  the  different  members  are 
bound  together  and  kept  in  order.  Of  course,  by  the 
church,  he  means  something  different  from  the  priestly 
organization  of  the  Romanists.  He  believes  in  the  church 
invisible,  composed  of  true  believers  only;  but  also  in 
the  church  visible,  the  marks  of  which  are  the  right  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments  and  the  preaching  of  the 
Word.  He  had  little  appreciation  of  the  church  year. 
While  the  Reformed  churches  in  German  Switzerland 
celebrated  the  great  feasts  of  the  year,  Geneva  abolished 
the  week-day  feasts,  and  kept  only  the  Sabbath.  This 
was  done  by  the  radicalism  of  Farel,  before  Calvin  en- 
tered Geneva,  and,  in  some  degree,  the  latter  disap- 
proved of  it.  Bullinger  writes  to  him:  "My  dear 
brother,  I  am  anxious  to  see  liberty  preserved  in  suc> 
matters  which  I  perceive  to  have  flourished  in  the 
churches  from  the  very  days  of  the  Apostles." 

Of  Calvin's  pastoral  work,  his  organization  and  his 
administration  of  discipline,  we  have  spoken  at  length 


CALVIN,  THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOK.         129 

in  previous  chapters.  He  could  truly  say,  "The  world 
is  my  parish."  By  thousands  of  letters,  addressed  to 
high  and  low,  among  nations  all  over  Europe,  he  en- 
deavored to  spread  the  Reformed  faith  and  confirmed 
those  who  had  already  embraced  it.  This  correspondence  ' 
begins  in  his  youth  (May,  1528),  and  is  only  closed  upon 
his  death-bed  (May,  1564).  Nothing  can  exceed  the 
interest  of  this  correspondence,  in  which  a  life  of  the 
most  absorbing  interest  is  reflected,  and  in  which  ef- 
fusions of  friendship  are  mingled  with  the  more  serious 
questions  of  theology,  and  with  the  heroic  breathings 
of  faith.  In  those  letters,  Calvin  followed  with  an  ob- 
servant eye  the  great  drama  of  the  reformation,  mark- 
ing its  triumphs  and  its  reserves  in  every  state  of 
Europe.  By  virtue  of  his  surpassing  genius,  with  an 
almost  universal  apostolate,  he  wielded  an  influence  as 
varied  and  as  plastic  as  his  activity.  He  exhorts  with 
the  same  authority  the  humble  ministers  of  the  gospel 
and  the  powerful  monarchs  of  England,  France,  Sweden 
and  Poland.  He  holds  commimion  with  Luther  and 
IMelanethon,  animates  Knox,  encourages  Coligny,  and 
to  Farel  and  Beza  he  pours  out  the  overflowings  of 
a  heart  filled  with  love.  His  letters  establish  foreign  ^ 
churches,  strengthen  martyrs,  dictate  to  the  Protestant 
princes  wise  counsels,  negotiate,  teach  and  give  utter- 
ance to  words  of  power,  which,  even  to-day,  are  re- 
ceived by  his  friends  as  part  of  Calvin's  political  and 
religious  testament.  One  point  in  the  reformer's  world- 
wide activity  must  not  be  overlooked  by  Americans.  lie 
was  the  only  reformer  who  interested  himself  in  the 
New  World.  When  the  groat  Huguenot  admiral,  Co- 
ligny, sent  a  colony  of  Reformed  people  to  Brazil,  he 
requested  Calvin  to  send  Reformed  ministers  along  with 
them.     The  reformer  heeded  the  request  and  in  1556 


130  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Calvin  sent  two  Reformed  ministers  from  Geneva  to 
America  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  not  only  to  the 
colonists  but  also  to  convert  the  Indians. 


\ 


^ 


C  II  A  I'T  1^  K     X  X  1. 

CALVIN,  THE  EDUCATOR. 

In  a  previous  chapter,  we  have  spoken  of  the  reform- 
er's interest  in  popular  and  higher  education.  The 
reformer  himself  was  not  only  a  man  of  great  intellect 
but  also  highly  educated  and  endowed  with  learning 
beyond  most  of  his  contemporaries.  His  first  book  on 
Seneca's  "Clementia"  is  usually  referred  to  as  an  ex- 
ample of  his  erudition.  Lindsay  says  of  it :  ''The  author 
shows  that  he  knew  as  minutely  as  extensively  the  whole 
round  of  classical  literature  accessible  to  his  times.  He 
quotes,  and  that  aptly,  from  fifty-five  separate  Latin  au- 
thors— from  thirty-three  separate  works  of  Cicero,  from 
all  the  works  of  Horace  and  Ovid,  from  five  comedies  of 
Terence,  and  from  all  the  works  of  Virgil.  He  quotes 
from  twenty-two  separate  Greek  authors — from  five  or 
six  of  the  principal  writings  of  Aristotle  and  from  four 
of  tlie  writings  of  Plato  and  of  Plutarch.  Calvin  does 
not  quote  Plautus.  but  his  use  of  the  ]ihrase  'remoram 
facere'  makes  it  likely  that  he  was  well  acrpiainted  witli 
that  writer  also.  The  future  theologian  was  also  ac- 
quainted with  many  of  the  fathers — with  Augustine, 
Laetantius,  Jerome,  Synesius  and  Cyprian."  At  the 
famous  disputation  at  Lausanne,  when  the  question  of  the 
Real  Presence  was  discussed,  one  of  the  Romanists  read  a 
carefully  prepared  paper,  in  the  course  of  wliich  he  said 
that  the  Protestants  despised  and  neglected  the  ancient 
Fathers,  fearing  their  authority,  which  was  against  their 
piews.  Then  Calvin  rose.  He  began  with  the  sarcastic 
remark  that  the  people  who  reverenced  the  Fathers 
might  spend  some  little  time  in  turning  over  their  pages 

i;u 


CAI.VIN.    Tin:    i;i>l('ATOK'.  ]'-\''> 

before  they  spoke  about  them.  He  quoted  from  ouo 
Father  after  another, — ^"  Cyprian,  discussing  the  sub- 
ject now  under  review  in  the  third  epistle  of  his  second 

book  of  Epistles,  says Tertullian,  refuting  the 

error  of  Marcion,  says The  author  of  some  im- 
perfect conunentaries  on  St.  INIatthew,  which  some  have 
attributed  to  St.  John  Chrysostom,  in  the  11th  homily, 

about  the  middle,  says St.  Augustine,  in  his  23rd 

epistle,  near  the  end,  says Augustine,  in  one  of 

his  homilies  on  St.  John's  Gospel,  the  8th  or  the  9th,  I 

am  not  sure  at  this  moment  which,  says "  and  so 

on.  He  knew  the  ancient  Fathers  as  no  one  else  in  the 
century.  He  had  not  taken  their  opinions  second-hand 
from  Peter  of  Lombardy's  ' '  Sententise "  as  did  most  of 
the  schoolman  and  contemporary  Komanist  theologians. 
It  was  the  first  time  that  he  displayed,  almost  accident- 
ally, his  marvellous  patriotic  knowledge, — a  knowledge 
for  which  Melancthon  could  never  sufficiently  admire 
him. 

Calvin  insisted  that  education  must  begin  with  train- 
ing in  the  home.  To  have  successful  home  training,  a 
generation  of  Christian  fathers  and  mothers  must  be 
developed.  To  accomplish  this  was  a  conscious  part  of 
his  famous  church  discipline.  From  the  very  beginning 
he  insisted,  like  Luther,  on  the  establishment  of  public 
schools,  as  he  did  not  believe  in  the  Romish  maxim  that 
ignorance  is  the  mother  of  piety.  The  foimding  of  the 
Academy  has  been  described  in  a  former  chapter.  He 
was  constantly  active  in  drawing  some  of  the  best  edu- 
cators whom  the  slender  means  of  Geneva  could  induce 
to  come  to  that  city.  He  was  anxious  that  the  wealth 
confiscated  from  the  Catholics  should  not  all  go  into  the 
purse  of  the  nobility  and  princes,  but  should  be  used  for 
the  education  of  the  people.     To  Duke  Somerset,  Lord 


134  JOHN   CALVIN.  i 

Protector  of  England,  he  writes:  ''It  is  an  evil  that  the 
revenue  of  the  church  is  diverted  and  wasted,  so  that 
there  is  not  wherewithal  to  support  worthy  men  who 
might  be  fit  to  discharge  the  office  of  true  pastors.  And 
thus  ignorant  priests  are  installed,  who  spread  great  con- 
fusion. I  quite  believe  that  it  has  not  been  your  fault 
that  matters  have  not  been  better  regulated;  be  pleased 
to  exert  all  your  might  in  correcting  this  abuse."  In 
a  letter  to  King  Edward  VI  of  England,  he  writes  on  the 
same  subject:  "I  beseech  you  to  see  that  property  which 
ought  to  be  held  sacred  be  not  converted  to  profane 
uses.  For,  in  this  way,  the  gospel  would  always  be 
kept  back  from  want  of  schools,  which  ought  to  be 
the  very  pillars  thereof."  Calvin  insisted  on  a  highly 
educated  ministry.  The  examination  of  the  candidates 
was  conducted  by  those  who  were  already  in  the  min- 
istry and  included  both  intellectual  attainments  and 
theological  and  religious  principles.  In  order  to  keep 
the  higher  schools  of  learning  as  pure  as  possible,  he 
insisted  on  care  and  watchfulness  to  be  exercised  by  the 
heads  of  the  institutions.  In  his  letter  to  the  King  of 
England,  he  writes  on  this  point:  ''As  the  schools  con- 
tain the  seeds  of  the  ministry  there  is  much  need  to  keep 
them  pure  and  thoroughly  free  from  all  ill  weeds.  I 
speak  thus.  Sire,  because  in  your  universities,  it  is  com- 
monly said,  there  are  many  young  people  supported  by 
the  college  treasury,  who,  instead  of  giving  good  hope  of 
service  in  the  church,  rather  show  an  inclination  to  do 
mischief,  and  to  ruin  it,  not  even  concealing  that  they 
are  opposed  to  true  religion." 

Above  all,  Calvin  was  greatly  concerned  about  the 
religious  education  of  the  young  people.  The  ' '  Cate- 
chism for  Children"  was  published  in  1537  and  was 
meant  to  give  expression  to  a  simple  piety  rather  than 


CAI.VIN,   THE   EDUCATOR.  135 

i>  exhibit  a  profound  knowledge  of  religious  truths. 
iSut,  as  Calvin  himself  later  felt,  it  was  too  theological 
i'or  children,  and  was  superseded  by  his  second  cate- 
chism, published  immediately  after  his  return  to  Geneva, 
in  1541.  It  is  divided  into  portions  for  fifty-five  Sun- 
days. While  Luther's  Catechism  is  more  child-like,  this 
little  work  of  Calvin  is  better  adapted  to  all  classes  of 
people  on  accoimt  of  its  order  and  the  progress  of  its 
ideas. 

The  words  of  Calvin  on  the  importance  of  catechisa- 
tion,  which  we  found  in  a  letter  to  Duke  Somerset,  ought 
to  be  w^eighed  by  every  minister  of  the  Reformed  and 
Presbyterian  churches  in  America,  at  a  time  when  all 
kinds  of  new  and  questionable  methods  are  being  put  in 
operation  to  propagate  the  faith,  while  the  natural,  time- 
honored  and  highly  efficient  method,  the  catechisation  of 
the  youth,  is  fast  becoming  a  lost  art.  In  this  remarkable 
letter,  Calvin  says:  "Believe  me,  Mo7isigneur,  the  Church 
of  God  ivill  never  preserve  itself  without  a  Catechism,  for 
it  is  like  the  seed  to  Jceep  the  good  grain  from  dying  out 
and  causing  it  to  midtiply  from  age  to  age.  And,  there- 
fore, if  you  desire  to  build  an  edifice  which  shall  be  of 
long  duration,  and  which  shall  not  soon  fall  into  decay, 
make  provision  for  the  children  being  instructed  in  a 
good  catechism,  which  may  show  them  briefly,  and  in 
language  suited  to  their  tender  age,  wherein  true  Chris- 
tianity consists.  This  catechism  will  serve  two  purposes, 
to  wit,  as  an  introduction  to  the  whole  people,  so  that 
every  one  may  profit  from  what  shall  be  preached  and 
"also  to  enable  them  to  discern  when  any  presumptuous 
person  puts  forward  strange  doctrines," 


CHAPTER    XXI  I. 

CALVIN,  THE  STATESMAN. 

Calvin  was  as  great  a  statesman  as  lie  was  a  tlieo« 
logian.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  some  period  of 
his  life  he  studied  law  under  the  famous  jurist  Al- 
eiatus,  at  Orleans.  This  fact,  the  general  training  of 
his  mind  and  the  necessities  of  the  conditions  at  Geneva, 
made  him  a  politician  in  the  good  sense  of  the  word. 
The  public  archives  of  Geneva  contain  many  files  of  law 
papers  with  marginal  notes  by  his  hand.  In  legal  cases 
his  sagacity  and  his  legal  knowledge  are  admirable. 
Very  often  he  became  the  diplomatist  for  his  city  and 
was  entrusted  with  negotiations  to  foreign  governments. 
On  the  legislation  of  Geneva,  he  exercised,  as  we  have 
seen  in  a  previous  chapter,  a  twofold  influence,  direct 
-and  indirect.  He  established  the  code  of  morals  which 
was  a  new  creation  and  revised  the  general  laws  of  the 
state.  He  thus  became,  not  by  any  effort  of  his  own,  but 
by  the  great  respect  entertained  for  him,  the  virtual- 
legislator  of  the  city.  An  examination  of  the  Genevan 
code  of  laws  shows  the  strong  influence  of  the  Mosaic 
legislation  on  Calvin's  conception  of  a  well-ordered  com- 
munity. As  Kampschulte,  the  Roman  Catholic  biogra- 
pher of  Calvin  says :  ' '  Both  the  special  statutes  and  the 
general  theocratic  character  of  the  Hebrew  common- 
wealth were  never  out  of  sight." 

Dr.  Schaff  writes:  "The  material  prosperity  of  the 
city  was  not  neglected.  Greater  cleanliness  was  intro- 
duced, which  is  next  to  godliness,  and  promotes  it.  Cal- 
vin insisted  on  the  removal  of  all  filth  from  the  houses 
and  the  narrow  and  crooked  streets.     He  induced  the 

136 


CALVIN,    THE    STATESMAN,  137 


'  luagistracy  to  superintend  the  markets,  and  to  prevent 
the  sale_o|_unhealtlrj[_food,  which  was  to  be  cast  into  the 
Rhone.    Low  taverns  and  drinking_shops  were  abolished, 
and    intemperance    diminished.      Mendicancy    on    the 
streejg_was  prohibited.     A  hospital  and  poor-house  was    \ 
provided  and  well   conducted.     Efforts  were  made  to  ^^ 
give  useful  employment  to  every  man  that  could  work. 
Calvin  urged  the  Council  in  a  long  speech,  Dec.  29,  1544, 
to  introduce_the_  cLothand^kJiidus^^^    and  two  montlis 
afterwards  he  presented  a  detailed  plan,  in  which  he 
recommended  to  lend  to  the  Syndic,  Jean  Ami  Curtet, 
a  sufficient  sum  from  the  public  treasury  for  starting 
the  enterprise.    The  factories  were  forthwith  established 
and  soon  reached  the  highest  degree  of  prosperity.    The 
cloth  and  silk  of  Geneva  were  highly  prized  in  Switzer- 
land and  France,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  tem- 
poral wealth  of  the  city.    When  Lyons,  by  the  patron- 
age of  the  French  crown,  surpassed  the  little  Republic      .. 
in  the  manufacture  of  silk,  Geneva  had  already  begun 
to  make  up  for  the  loss  by  the  manufacture  of  watches        4* 
and  retained  the  mastery  of  this  useful  industry  until       ^ 
1885,  when  American  machinery  produced  a  successful     ,'^ 
rivalry." 

Even  the  minutest  affairs,  details  curious  and  strange, 
engaged  his  attention.     Regulations  for  watching  of  the 
gates,  and  for  the  suppression  cr^  fires  are  found  in  his 
handwriting.      A    Robert    Stephens    consults    him    on      *^^ 
printing  and  later  confesses  himself  indebted   for  his      £    > 
reputation  as  a  printer  to  Calvin's  advice.     The  Coimcil ^-""^^  X*, 
sent  people  who  requested  to  open  a  new  trade  to  speak     "S" 
to  "M.  Calvin,"  to  show  him  his  wares,  and  to  work     "^ 
under  his   eyes.     One   day,   a  surgeon    comes   and   the 
Council  Avishes  Calvin  to  be  present  at  his  examination. 
Another  day  it  is  a  dentist,  whose  art  is  new,  for  hitherto 


r 

i. 


138  JOHN  CALVIN. 

men  had  only  been  drawers  of  teeth,  but  this  man  an- 
nounces himself  as  taking  care  of  and  repairing  them. 
He  is  sent  to  ''Monsieur  Calvin,"  and  the  reformer  puts 
himself  into  the  stranger's  skillful  hands,  and  afterwards 
commends  him  to  the  magistrates. 

In  his  theory  of  government,  Calvin  was  a  thorough- 
going Republican ;  but  he  did  not  identify  republicanism 
with  broad  democracy  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  term— 
the  direct  rule  of  all  the  people.  In  Church  and  State, 
he  believed  in  a  government  by  well-qualified  representa- 
tives of  the  people.  In  his  ''Institutes"  he  writes  with 
reference  to  this  subject  as  follows:  "Indeed,  if  these 
three  forms  of  government,  which  are  stated  by  the 
philosophers  be  considered  in  themselves,  I  shall  by  no 
means  deny  that  either  aristocracy  or  a  mixture  of  aris- 
trocracy  and  democracy  far  excels  all  others,  and  that, 
indeed,  not  of  itself,  but  because  it  very  rarely  happens 
that  kings  regulate  themselves  so  that  their  will  is  never 
at  variance  with  justice  and  rectitude,  or,  in  the  next 
place,  that  they  are  endued  with  such  penetration  and 
;  prudence  as  in  all  cases  to  discover  what  is  best.  The 
j  vice  or  imperfections  of  men,  therefore,  renders  it  safer 
■  and  more  tolerable  for  the  government  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  many,  that  they  may  afford  each  other  mutual  as- 
sistance and  admonition,  and  that  if  any  one  arrogate 
to  himself  more  than  is  right  the  many  may  act  as  cen- 
sors and  masters  to  restrain  his  ambition.  This  has  al- 
ways been  proved  by  experience,  and  the  Lord  con- 
firmed it  by  his  authority  when  He  established  a  govern- 
ment of  this  kind  among  the  people  of  Israel  with  a  view 
to  preserve  them  in  the  most  desirable  condition  till  ex- 
hibited in  David  a  type  of  Christ.  And  as  I  readily 
acknowledge  that  no  kind  of  government  is  more  happy 
than  this,  where  liberty  is  regulated  with  becoming  mod- 
eration and  properly  established  on  a  durable  basis,  so 


CALVIN,    THE   STATESMAN.  139 

also  I  consider  these  as  the  most  happy  people  who  are 
permitted  to  enjoy  such  a  condition;  and  if  they  exert 
their  strenuous  and  consistent  efforts  for  its  preserva- 
tion, I  admit  that  they  act  in  perfect  consistence  with 
their  duty." 

The  effects   of   Calvin's   Christian   statesmanship   on 
Geneva  are  the  best  answers  to  all  charges  of  the  enemy. 
Dr.  Schaff  writes :  ' '  Calvin  found  the  commonwealth  of 
Geneva  in  a  condition  of  license  bordering  on  anarchy ; 
he  left  it  a  well-regulated  community.     If  ever  in  this 
wicked  world  the  ideal  of  Christian  society  can  be  real- 
ized in  a  civil  community  with  a  mixed  population,  it 
was  in  Geneva  from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  to  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  infidel  genius 
of  Rousseau  (a  native  of  Geneva)  and  of  Voltaire  (who 
resided   twenty   years   in   its   neighborhood)    began   to 
destroy  the  influence  of  the  reformer."     Another  his- 
.torian,  and  he  prejudiced,  says:    "After  the  lapse  of 
ages,  the  effects  of  Calvin's  influence  are  still  visible  in 
the  industry  and  intellectual  tone  of  Geneva."     From 
having  been  a  small  and  unimportant  tovm,  a  sink  of 
iniquity  beyond  any  of  the  cities  of  northern  Europe,  the 
city  on  the  Rhone  became  the  focus  of  light,  the  center 
of  attraction  and  the  source  of  incalculable  influence 
upon  the  destinies  of  Europe  and  the  world.     Even  a 
man  like  Rousseau  says :  ' '  Those  who  regard  Calvin  as 
a  mere  theologian  are  ill  acquainted  with  the  extent  of 
his  genius.    The  preparation  of  our  wise  edicts,  in  which 
he  had  a  great  part,  does  him  as  much  honor  as  hia 
"Institutes."     Whatever  revolution  time  may  effect  in 
our  worship,  while  the  love  of  coimtry  and  liberty  shall 
exist  among  us,  the  memory  of  that  great  man  shall 
never  cease  to  be  blest. ' ' 

The  historian  Bancroft  corroborates  Rousseau's  esti- 
mate: "We,  as  republicans,  should  remember  that  Calvin 


140  JOHN  CALVIN. 

wns  not  only  the  founder  of  a  sect,  but  foremost  among 
the  most  efficient  of  modern  republican  legislators. 
More  truly  benevolent  to  the  human  race  than  Solon, 
more  self-denying  than  Lycurgus,  the  genius  of  Calvin 
infused  enduring  elements  into  the  institutions  of  Gen- 
eva and  made  it  for  the  modern  world  the  impregnable 
fortress  of  popular  liberty,  the  fertile  seed-plot  of 
democracy. ' ' 

Altogether  Geneva  owes  her  moral  and  temporal  pros- 
perity, her  intellectual  and  literary  activity,  her  social 
refinement,  and  her  world-wide  fame  very  largely  to  the 
reformation  and  discipline  of  Calvin. 

Let  us  listen  to  some  testimonies  of  visitors  who  saw 
with  their  own  eyes  the  changes  wrought  in  Geneva 
through  Calvin's  influence.  William  Farel,  who  knew 
better  than  any  other  man  the  state  of  Geneva  under 
Roman  Catholic  rule,  and  during  the  early  stages  of 
reform  before  the  arrival  of  Calvin,  visited  the  city 
again  in  1557,  and  wrote  to  Ambrosius  Blauer  that  he 
would  gladly  listen  and  learn  there  with  the  humblest  of 
the  people,  and  that  ''he  would  rather  be  the  last  in 
Geneva  than  the  first  anywhere  else."  John  Knox,  the 
Reformer  of  Scotland,  who  studied  several  years  in 
Geneva  as  a  pupil  of  Calvin  (though  five  years  his 
senior),  and  as  pastor  of  the  English  congregation,  wrote 
to  his  friend  Locke,  in  1556:  ''In  my  heart  I  could 
have  wished,  yea,  I  cannot  cease  to  Mdsh,  that  it  might 
please  God  to  guide  and  conduct  yourself  to  this  place 
where,  I  neither  fear  nor  am  ashamed  to  say,  is  the 
most  perfect  school  of  Christ  that  ever  was  in  the  earth 
since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  In  other  places  I  confess 
Christ  to  be  truly  preached;  but  manners  and  religion 
to  be  so  seriously  reformed,  I  have  not  yet  seen  in  any 
other  place  besides." 


CALVIN,    THE    STATESMAN.  141 

Dr.  Valentine  Andreae  visited  Geneva  in  1610,  nearly 
fifty  years  after  Calvin's  death,  with  the  prejudices  of 
an  orthodox  Lutheran  against  Calvinism,  and  was  as- 
tonished to  find  in  that  city  a  state  of  religion  wliich 
canie  nearer  to  his  ideal  of  a  Christocracy  than  any 
community  he  had  seen  in  his  extensive  travels,  and  even 
in  his  German  fatherland.  "When  I  was  in  Geneva," 
he  writes,  ''I  observed  something  great  which  I  shall 
remember  and  desire  as  long  as  I  live.  There  is  in  that 
place  not  only  the  perfect  institute  of  a  perfect  republic, 
but  as  a  special  ornament,  a  moral  discipline,  which 
makes  weekly  investigations  into  the  conduct,  and  even 
the  smallest  transgressions  of  the  citzens,  first  through 
the  district  inspectors,  then  through  the  seniors,  and 
finally  through  the  magistrates,  as  the  nature  of  the  of- 
fense and  the  hardened  state  of  the  offender  may  require. 
All  cursing,  swearing,  gambling,  luxury,  strife,  hatred, 
fraud,  etc.,  are  forbidden,  while  greater  sins  are  hardly 
heard  of.  "What  a  glorious  ornament  of  the  Christian 
religion  is  such  a  purity  of  morals !  We  must  lament 
with  tears  that  it  is  wanting  with  us,  and  almost  totally 
neglected.  If  it  were  not  for  the  difference  of  religion, 
I  would  have  forever  been  chained  to  that  place  by  the 
agreement  in  morals,  and  I  have  ever  since  tried  to  in- 
troduce something  like  it  into  our  churches.  No  less 
distinguished  than  the  public  discipline  was  the  domestic 
discipline  of  my  landlord,  Scarron,  with  its  daily  devo- 
tions, reading  of  the  Scriptures,  the  fear  of  God  in  word 
and  deed,  temperance  in  meat  and  drink  and  dress.  I 
have  not  foimd  greater  purity  of  morals  even  in  my 
father's  home." 

A  stronger  and  more  impartial  testimony  of  the  deep 
and  lasting  effect  of  Calvin's  discipline  so  long  after  his 
death  could  hardly  be  imagined. 


CHAPTER     XXIII. 

CALVIN,  THE  PROMOTER  OF  CHURCH  UNION. 

"When  Calvin  appeared  on  the  scene  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, it  resembled  a  great  battlefield.  Everything  was 
distracted  and  torn  up,  the  M^ounded  lay  right  and  left ; 
the  first  engagement  had  already  been  gloriously  won 
by  Luther  and  Zwingli,  but,  alas,  for  want  of  better 
things  to  do,  these  two  generals  and  their  followers 
pointed  the  sword  against  each  other,  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  conunon  enemy.  Luther  gave  the  signal  for  this 
war  between  brethren  by  rejecting  Zwingli 's  out- 
stretched hand  of  fellowship  at  Marburg  in  1529.  Deep- 
ly grieved  by  these  conditions,  Calvin,  during  his  entire 
ministry,  spent  much  time  in  trying  to  bring  the  differ- 
ent Protestant  bodies  to  a  realization  of  their  substan- 
tial unity  in  faith  and  love. 

Like  Luther,  Calvin  had  no  faith  in  the  practicable- 
ness  of  a  compromise  with  the  Catholics,  and  the  nego- 
tiations at  which  he  was  present  at  Worms,  Hanau, 
Frankfurt  and  Ratisbon  became  more  and  more  irk- 
some to  him,  the  more  so,  as  his  ignorance  of  the  German 
occasioned  him  some  embarrassment.  As  often  as  the 
Emperor  was  in  trouble  and  needed  the  Protestants  in 
his  wars  against  the  Turk,  or  France,  or  the  Pope  him- 
self, he  proposed  what  is  called  an  ''Interim,"  that  is, 
a  temporary  arrangement,  to  the  Protestants,  promising 
them  final  settlement  by  a  General  Council.  The  very 
worst  of  these  was  the  "Leipsic  Interim,"  in  which  Me- 
lancthon,  tfue  to  his  constitutional  weakness,  surren- 
dered almost  the  entire  Protestant  principle.  To  this 
compromise  in  particular  Calvin  was  inflexibly  opposed, 

142 


CALVIN,  THE  PROMOTER  OF  CHURCH  UNION.  143 

and  a  sharp  correspondence  between  himself  and  Me- 
lancthon  ensued. 

The  reformer's  desire  was  to  consolidate  Protestant- 
ism. It  is  refreshing  to  listen  to  some  of  Calvin's  beau- 
tiful sentiments  in  favor  of  church  union.  In  a  letter 
to  Bullinger,  March  12,  1540,  he  writes:  ''What,  dear 
Bullinger,  should  more  anxiously  occupy  us  in  our 
letters,  than  the  endeavor  to  keep  up  brotherly  friend- 
ship among  us  by  all  possible  means.  It  is  important 
for  the  whole  church  that  all  should  keep  together  to 
whom  the  Lord  has  committed  the  affairs  in  His  church. 
It  is,  therefore,  our  duty  to  cherish  a  true  friendship 
for  all  preachers  of  the  "Word,  and  to  keep  the  churches 
at  peace  with  each  other.  As  far  as  in  me  lies,  I  mil 
always  labor  to  do  so.  I  wish  that  something  might 
occur  which  would  afford  me  the  opportunity  of  discus- 
sing the  whole  matter  with  you  in  a  friendly  manner, 
face  to  face.  I  have  never  been  able  to  treat  this  matter 
with  you  by  word  of  mouth.  I  beseech  you,  or  rather 
conjure  you,  dear  Bullinger,  to  let  us  wholly  refrain 
from  all  hate  and  all  strife,  and  even  from  all  appear- 
ance of  offense.  Do  not  think  that  I  have  any  doubt 
of  your  resolution.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of  love,  that 
even  when  there  is  hope  there  is  yet  much  of  anxiety. 
Farewell,  learned  and  pious  man." 

On  March  20,  1552,  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  head  of  the  reforming  party  in  England,  in- 
viting Calvin,  with  ]\Ielancthon  and  Bullinger  to  a  meet- 
ing in  Lambeth  Palace,  London,  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing up  a  consensus  creed  for  the  Reformed  churches, 
wrote  him  the  following  significant  words:  "As  noth- 
ing tends  more  injuriously  to  the  separation  of  the 
churches  than  heresies  and  disputes  respecting  the  doc- 
trines of  religion,  so  nothing  tends  more  effectually  to 


144  JOHN  CALVIN. 

unite  the  Churches  of  God,  and  more  powerfully  to  de- 
fend the  fold  of  Christ  than  the  pure  teaching  of  the 
Gospel  and  harmony  of  doctrine.  Wherefore  I  have 
often  wished,  and  still  continue  to  do  so,  that  learned 
and  godly  men,  who  are  eminent  for  erudition  and  judg- 
ment, might  meet  together,  and,  comparing"  their  respec- 
tive opinions,  might  handle  all  the  heads  of  ecclesiastical 
doctrine,  and  hand  down  to  posterity,  under  the  weight 
of  their  authoritj^,  some  work  not  only  upon  the  subjects 
themselves,  but  upon  the  forms  of  expressing  them. 
Our  adversaries  are  now  holding  their  councils  at  Trent, 
for  the  establishment  of  their  errors;  and  shall  we 
neglect  to  call  together  a  godly  synod,  for  the  refutation 
of  error,  and  for  restoring  and  propagating  the  truth?" 
With  great  jo}^  Calvin  seconded  the  desires  so  nobly 
expressed  by  Cranmer,  which  harmonized  so  well  with 
the  most  elevated  sentiments  of  his  own  heart.  In 
April,  1552,  the  former  wrote  his  famous  letter  on  the 
importance'  of  church  union  in  reply  to  Cranmer 's 
letter,  in  which  he  says :  "In  the  present  distracted  state 
of  the  church,  you  suppose  that  no  better  means  can 
be  employed  than  that  pious,  sensible  men,  brought  up 
in  the  school  of  God,  should  unite  in  setting  forth  a 
common  confession  of  Christian  doctrine.  Satan  seeks 
by  manifold  wiles  to  extinguish  the  light  of  the  Gospel. 
The  dogs  in  the  pay  of  the  Pope  cease  not  to  bark,  that 
they  may  drown  the  voices  of  those  who  preach  the 
word  of  truth.  Such  is  the  madness,  such  the  impiety 
which  everywhere  prevails,  that  religion  can  hardly 
any  longer  be  protected  from  daily  mockery.  Nor  is 
this  state  of  feeling  confined  to  the  people  alone.  Still 
more  lamentable  to  say,  it  is  extending  among  the  clergy. 
But  the  Lord  Himself  will  communicate  to  us  the  imity 
of  the  true  faith,  in  some  wonderful  manner,  and  by 


CALVIN,  THE  PROMOTER  OF  CHURCH  UNION.  145 

means  altogether  luiknowu  to  us."  Calvin  expressed  the 
Avish  that  Cranmer  would  appoint  some  place  in  Eng- 
land where  the  heads  of  all  the  Protestant  churches 
might  meet,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  permanent  union. 
"One  of  the  greatest  evils  of  our  time,"  he  saj^s,  "is 
that  the  churches  are  so  widely  separated  from  each 
other.  The  body  of  Christ  is  torn  asunder  because  the 
members  are  separated.  As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  if  I 
can  be  of  any  use,  /  ivill  readily  cross  ten  seas  to  effect 
the  object  in  view.  If  the  welfare  of  England  alone 
were  concerned,  I  should  regard  it  as  sufficient  reason 
to  act  thus.  But  when  our  purpose  is  to  unite  the  senti- 
ments of  all  good  and  learned  men,  neither  labor  nor 
trouble  of  any  kind  ought  to  be  spared."  Cranmer 
adopted  Calvin's  idea,  as  far  as  possible,  and  Calvin, 
in  his  joy,  writes  him  again :  "Beware  that  you  may  not 
have  to  charge  yourself  with  many  grievous  accusations, 
if,  through  negligence  or  delay,  you  leave  the  world  in 
its  present  distracted  state.  Besides  the  waste  of  church 
property,  which  is  wicked  enough,  the  public  income 
of  the  church  is  emploj'cd  to  support  idle  fellows  en-  \ 
gaged  to  sing  vespers  in  a  foreign  language.  The  diffi- 
culties with  which  j^-ou  have  to  contend  are  so  numerous 
that  it  may  not  be  useless  on  my  part  to  excite  your 
resolution."  This  whole  project  was  defeated,  how- 
ever, by  the  death  of  the  king  and  the  martyrdom  of 
Cranmer. 

Calvin  laid  the  main  stress  not  so  much  on  external 
consolidation  as  on  union  in  the  spirit.  The  close  con- 
nection between  Church  and  State  in  all  Protestant  coun- 
tries excluded  all  ideas  of  organic  or  absorptive  union. 
His  extensive  correspondence  with  Bullinger.  Melanc- 
thon,  Chanmer  and  others  amply  proves  this.  He  even 
wrote  a  letter  on  this  subject  to  Luther,  which,  how- 
ever, did  not  reach  the  great  reformer  because  Melanc- 


146  JOHN  CALVIN-. 

than,  true  to  his  constitutional  timidity,  was  afraid  to 
deliver  it,  as  it  might  exasperate  Luther,  who  was  then 
engaged  in  one  of  his  controversies  on  the  Lord's  Supper 
with  the  German  churches  in  Switzerland. 

Calvin's  idea  of  union  being  far  from  the  idea  of 
governmental  unification  was  also  far  from  requiring 
sameness  in  detail  of  doctrine.  This  traditional 
''intolerant"  reformer  was  willing  to  compromise 
in  every  direction  on  matters  of  order,  dis- 
cipline, ceremonies  and  forms  in  order  to  heal  schism, 
disunion  and  alienation  in  the  Eeformed  churches. 
''Keep  your  smaller  differences,"  says  he,  addressing 
the  Lutheran  churches,  "but  let  us  have  no  discord  on 
that  account,  but  let  us  march  in  one  solid  column 
under  the  banner  of  the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  Let 
the  ministers  by  whom  God  permits  the  church  to  be 
governed  be  what  they  may,"  he  writes  to  Farel;  "if 
the  signs  of  the  true  church  are  perceived,  it  will  be 
better  not'  to  separate  from  their  communion.  Nor  is  it 
an  objection  that  some  impure  doctrines  are  then  de- 
livered, for  there  is  scarce  any  church  which  retains 
none  of  the  remains  of  ignorance.  It  is  sufficient  for 
us  that  the  doctrine  in  which  the  church  of  Christ  is 
founded  should  hold  its  place  and  influence. ' '  This  and 
other  expressions  of  Calvin's  liberal  spirit  have  led  to 
the  absurd  assertion  that  he  was  the  friend  and  de- 
fender of  the  episcopal  form  of  government.  In  the 
same  spirit  of  liberality  and  in  a  desire  for  union,  he 
signed  the  Augsburg  Confession,  for  substance  of  doc- 
trine only,  and  not  endorsing  its  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

Calvin  achieved  many  and  various  results  favorable  to 
union.  The  Consensus  Tigurinus  (Zurich  Confession 
of  Faith)  practically  united  all  the  Swiss  churches. 
After  Luther's  death,  with  the  help  of  Melanethon,  he 


CALVIN,  THE  PROMOTER  OP^  CHURCH  UNION.  147 

expected  a  closer  union  between  Germany  and  Switzer- 
land. But  the  heated  controversy  with  the  Lutheran 
preacher  Westphal  in  Hamburg  interfered  and  made 
progress  in  that  direction  impossible. 

The  spirit  of  Calvin  desiring  union  of  the  churches 
has  always  rested  upon  the  churches  professing  the 
Reformed  faith.  The  famous  Synod  of  Dor^  in  Hoi-  Oo*? 
land,  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  efforts  to  unify 
the  Reformed  churches.  It  held  154  sessions  from  Nov. 
13,  1618,  to  May  9,  1619.  There  were  present  eighty- 
four  theologians  and  eighteen  lay  commissioners,  twenty- 
eight  of  whom  representing  the  Reformed  churches  of 
England,  Scotland,  Palatinate,  Hesse,  Switzerland  and 
Bremen,  the  rest  being  Hollanders.  Delegates  were 
appointed  by  the  National  Synod  of  France,  but  the 
French  king  refused  them  permission  to  go.  Bran- 
denburg (Prussia)  also  elected  delegates,  but  they  failed 
to  appear.  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  and  the  Belgic 
Confession  were  unanimously  adopted  as  standards  of 
Reformed  orthodoxy,  to  which  were  added  the  Five 
Articles  of  Dor.  When  the  English  and  Scotch  dele- 
gates returned  home  they  reported  that  the  Reformed 
people  on  the  continent  had  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
a  book  ''the  leaves  of  which  were  worth  their  weight  in 
gold." 

Almost  every  effort  at  union  in  modern  times  has 
commenced  within  the  Reformed  Church,  be  it  the 
imion  promoted  by  the  Reformed  king  of  Prussia,  be- 
tween Lutherans  and  Reformed,  in  the  year  1817,  or  a 
similar  union  in  the  Palatinate,  Baden  and  Hesse,  in 
the  year  1818. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  past  century  another  dream 
of  Calvin  was  realized.  In  1875  the  "Alliance  of  the 
Reformed  churches  throughout  the   world  holding  the 


148  JOHN   CALVIN. 

Presbyterian  System"  was  organized  in  London,  Eng- 
land. This  body  meets  every  four  years  in  a  council 
composed  of  regularly  appointed  delegates  representing 
every  branch  of  the  Reformed  Church.  It  has  held  eight 
General  Councils.  The  first  Council  was  held  in  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  in  1877 ;  the  second  at  Philadelphia, 
U.  S.,  in  1880;  the  third  at  Belfast,  Ireland,  in  1884; 
the  fourth  at  London,  England,  in  1888 ;  the  fifth  at 
Toronto,  Canada,  in  1892 ;  the  sixth  at  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land, 1896;  the  seventh  at  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1899; 
the  eighth  at  Liverpool,  England,  in  1904 ;  and  the  ninth 
Council  will  meet  in  New  York  City  in  1909.  The 
churches  connected  with  the  Alliance  number  more  than 
ninety,  and  are  located  on  all  the  five  continents.  The 
adherents  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches 
in  the  world  number  about  25,000,000.  (For  definite 
statistics,  consult  the  last  chapter  of  this  book.) 

The  prime  movers,  and  some  of  the  foremost  leaders 
in  ''The  Pederal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America,"  which  met  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  in  December, 
1908,  representing  thirty-one  denominations  and  eigh- 
teen million  members,  were  also  members  of  Reformed 
churches.  A  much  older  organization  of  the  same  char- 
acter, but  still  more  extensive,  "The  Evangelical  Al- 
liance," is  being  supported  by  no  one  more  heartily 
than  by  the  followers  of  Calvin. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
WHAT  IS  CALVINISM? 

Having  sketched  the  life,  character  and  various  activi- 
ties of  Calvin,  we  are  prepared  to  discuss  more  at  length 
his  doctrine  and  the  influence  of  it  on  the  world.  In 
some  Catholic  countries,  like  Hungary  and  France,  and 
by  some  unfriendly  authors  the  name  of  Calvin  has 
been  attached  to  the  adherents  of  the  system  of  which 
he  is  the  foremost  expounder.  They  are  spoken  of  as 
"  Calvinists, "  and  this  unofficial  designation  used  by 
the  enemies  of  the  reformer  is  meant  to  be  a  stigma 
and  is  so  understood  by  his  friends  and  therefore  strenu- 
ously rejected.  True,  the  names  "Lutherans"  and 
"Protestants"  also  originated  as  names  of  derision, 
coined  by  the  enemy,  and  Luther  vehemently  objected 
to  having  his  name  attached  to  any  portion  of  the 
Church  of  Christ ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  both  of  these 
names  were  accepted  by  the  opponents  of  Eome  and 
soon  became  names  of  honor  and  distinction,  the  one 
for  a  denomination  and  the  other  the  conmion  name  for 
all  who  oppose  Romanism  without  distinction  of  de- 
nomination or  nationality.  The  name  "Calvinist," 
however,  has  never  been  accepted  as  the  official  name  of 
a  church  with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of  White- 
field  Methodists  in  AVales,  who  have  assumed  officially 
the  name  of  ' '  Calvinistic  Methodists, ' '  to  distinguish  . 
themselves  from  the  great  body  of  Methodists  which  is . 
Arminian  in  doctrine  and  episcopal  in  government.  At  ■ 
present  the  official  names  of  the  followers  of  Calvin 
are  "Reformed"  and  "Presbyterian."  The  first  is  the 
older  name  and  is  still  borne  by  the  "Calvinists"  in  Ger- 
many,   Smtzerland,    Holland,    France,    Hungary,    Bo- 

149 


150  JOHN  CALVIN. 

hernia,  South  Africa  and  America,  as  a  name  distinguish- 
ing them  from  the  Lutheran  churches  and  other  denomi- 
nations. The  name  "Keformed"  in  the  titles  of  those 
churches  has  therefore  no  reference  whatever  to  modern 
reforms,  as  "Ref.  Presbyterian,''  or  "Ref.  Episcopa- 
lian," or  "Ref.  Methodist,"  or  "Ref.  Lutheran,"  but 
refers  simply  and  solely  to  the  great  reformation  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  Originally  also  the  Protestant 
churches  in  Great  Britain  called  themselves  "'Reform- 
ed," and  even  to  this  very  day  that  name  is  retained  in 
the  crown-oath  of  the  English  king,  which  pledges  hini 
to  ''defend  the  Reformed  religion  of  the  realm."  But 
when,  under  Elizabeth,  the  Stuarts  and  the  common- 
wealth, the  tremendous  three-cornered  struggle  for  a 
Scriptural  form  of  church  government  arose,  the  com- 
mon name  referring  to  their  faith  was  forgotten  and 
the  three  parties  became  known  by  the  names  of  the 
church  government  which  each  one  favored;  those  who 
believed  in  government  by  a  bishop,  as  ' '  Episcopalian, ' ' 
from  the  Greek  word  episcopos,  an  overseer;  those  who 
believed  in  the  government  by  elders,  as  representatives 
of  the  church,  as  ' '  Presbyterians, ' '  from  the  Greek  word 
preshyteros,  an  elder;  and  those  who  believed  that  each 
local  church  should  govern  itself  independently  of  the 
sister  churches,  as  '"Congregationalists. "  This  explains 
how  it  came  that  the  churches  of  Great  Britain  profess- 
ing the  Reformed  faith  dropped  the  common  family 
name  and  called  themselves  "  Presbj-terians. "  As  a 
matter  of  fact  and  actual  usage,  the  intelligent  members 
of  the  English-speaking  Calvinists  employ  both  names; 
when  speaking  of  their  faith,  they  still  call  it  "Reform- 
ed." and  when  speaking  of  their  form  of  government 
they  define  it  as  "Presbyterian."  Using  the  adjectives 
with  precision,  therefore.  "Reformed"  refers  to  the 
faith.  "Presbyterial"  to  the  form  of  government,  and 


AYHAT   IS   CAL^^XISM  ?  151 

"  Presb%i:eriaii "  to  the  denominations  knoAvn  by  that 
name.  So  when,  in  1902,  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Northern  Presbyterian  Church  issued  explanatory  ar- 
ticles of  their  doctrinal  standards,  the  title  read:  ''Brief 
Statement  of  the  Reformed  Faith."  Both  names  have 
been  very  cleverh'  Avorked  into  the  oflScial  title  of  the 
world-wide  organization,  known  as  "Alliance  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System." 

"While  strenuously  opposing  the  use  of  Calvin's  name 
in  the  oflSeial  titles  of  the  churches,  the  honored  name 
of  the  reformer  has.  however,  tenaciously  and  with  ap- 
probation, chmg  to  his  famous  system,  so  that  to-day 
friend  and  foe  use  the  term  "Calvinism."  either  to  de- 
note his  system  of  doctrine  in  general  or  to  express 
the  scientific  aspect  and  value  of  the  great  principles 
contained  in  the  system.  ^Many  people,  it  is  true,  when 
they  hear  the  name  of  Calvin  and  Calvinism  think  at 
once  of  predestination,  or  the  burning  of  Servetus.  This 
confusion  is  due  either  to  ignorance  or  prejudice.  For 
predestination  was  not  at  all  a  doctrine  peculiar  to 
Calvin.  Luther  and  Zwingli  being  as  strenuous  uphold- 
ers of  this  doctrine  as  Calvin,  although  in  the  latter 's 
system  it  may  occupy  a  more  important  position,  while 
the  spreading  of  heresy  was.  as  has  been  shown,  at  the 
time  of  the  reformation,  deemed  worthy  of  death  by 
everybody,    including   Servetus   himself. 

Speaking  more  precisely,  by  Calyinijim  is  meant  that 
system  of  doctrine,  that  form  of  government  and  those 
ideas  of  public  worship  which  in  their  general  principles 
are  common  to  all  the  branches  of  the  great  family  of 
Reformed  and  Presbyterian  churches  scattered  over  the 
entire  globe,  and  foimd  in  Switzerland.  Germany, 
France.  Holland.  Scotland.  England.  Ireland.  Hungary. 
Bohemia,  South  Africa.  North  America  and  on  manv 


152  JOHN  CALVIN. 

I  foreign  mission  fields.  It  denotes  a  type  of  doctrine 
as  distinguished  from  the  Greek,  Roman  and  Lutheran 
systems.  It  finds  its  formal  expression  in  the  great  Re- 
formed creeds,  culminating  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
in  1563 ;  the  Articles  of  Dor,  1619,  and  the  Westminster 
Standards,  1647,  which  therefore  contain  the  ripest  fr?  it 
of  Reformed  Protestantism  in  Germany,  Holland  and 
Great  Britain.  This  world-wide  extension  impresses 
upon  Calvinism  the  character  of  true  catholicity,  for  it 
is  -at  least  as  widely  extended  as  Romanism,  and  is  not 
confined  practically  to  one  race  as  Lutheranism,  nor  to 
one  language,  as  Episcopalianism,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
genuine  catholicity  of  doctrine  and  spirit.  The  outward 
and  visible  bond  of  its  inward  unity  Calvinism  has  found 
in  the  "Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches  throughout  the 
World  holding  the  Presbyterial  System." 

It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  the  principles 
embraced  by  these  churches  existed  previous  to  the 
appearance  of  Calvin  and  were  adopted  and  not  origi- 
nated by  him.  His  doctrinal  system  may  be  traced 
through  Augustine  (died  430)  back  to  Paul;  the  prin- 
ciples of  his  form  of  church  government  are  clearly 
taught  in  the  New  Testament  and  were  practiced  by  the 
Waldenses  and  the  old  Moravians  before  the  Reforma- 
tion. Lambert  introduced  the  Presbyterial  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  Hesse  as  early  as  1527,  long  before  Calvin's 
conversion,  and  Bucer  did  the  same  in  Strasburg  in 
1531 ;  the  leading  ideas  of  his  form  of  worship,  Calvin 
developed  from  the  scanty  description  of  primitive  wor- 
ship as  found  in  Justin  Martyn  's  First  Apology,  written 
in  the  second  century,  and  from  the  liturgy  used  in 
the  churches  of  Strasburg.  Calvin,  however,  being  **the 
theologian"  and  organizer  among  the  reformers,  so 
clearly   expounded,   so   perfectly   systematized   and    so 


WHAT   IS   C.\LVINISM?  153 

ably  defended  these  principles  as  to  connect  with  them 
forever  his  illustrious  name. 

The  general  principles  of  Calvinism,  "generic  Calvin- 
ism," as  it  is  sometimes  called,  have  given  rise  to  a  va- 
riety of  types  of  Calvinism.  Just  as  the  Christian  life 
common  to  all  believers  has  found  various  expressions  in 
different  men  and  nationalities,  so  that  we  may  truly 
speak  of  the  Petrine,  the  Pauline,  and  the  Johannine 
type  of  teaching,  and  of  Jewish,  Greek,  Latin,  German, 
English  and  American,  as  well  as  of  Reformed,  Lu- 
theran and  Methodist  Christianity,  so  also  Calvinism, 
while  moulding  the  life  of  individuals  and  nations  has, 
in  turn,  been  moulded  by  the  different  varieties  of  soil 
in  which  it  was  planted,  by  the  peculiarities  of  men  and 
nations  who  embraced  the  system.  To  begin  with,  there 
is  the  Calvinism  of  Calvin  himself.  In  Germany  the 
same  general  system  appears  in  a  milder  form  in  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  which,  while  genuinely  Calvin- 
istic,  avoids  all  the  sharp  angles  of  that  system.  In  Hol- 
land, England  and  Scotland,  it  has  been  modified  in 
form  by  the  ''Federal  Scheme,"  introduced  by  Coc- 
ceius  and  the  Westminster  Divines.  In  America  it 
has  undergone  more  radical  transforjuation  through  the 
speculation  of  the  New  England  Puritans,  Hopkins,  Ed- 
wards, Emmons,  N.  W.  Taylor  and  others.  Intelligent 
readers  should,  therefore,  remember  that  many  objec- 
tions to  Calvinism  do  not  apply  to  the  theology  of  Calvin 
himself,  but  either  to  an  unintelligent  caricature  of  it 
which  fails  to  rise  to  Calvin's  own  point  of  view,  or  to 
one  of  the  later  developed  types  of  Calvinism. 

As  this  is  a  biography  of  Calvin  and  not  a  history 
of  doctrinal  Calvinism  we  confine  ourselves  to  a  brief 
statement  of  his  teaching  as  found  in  his  "Institutes." 


154  JOHN  CALVIN. 

/  On  Sin. — Mau  as  a  sinner  is  guilty  and  corrupt.  The 
first  man  was  made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
which  not  only  implies  man's  superiority  to  all  other 
creatures,  but  indicates  his  original  purity,  integrity  and 
sanctity.  From  this  state  Adam  fell,  and  in  his  fall 
involved  the  whole  human  race  descended  from  him. 
Hence,  depravity  and  corruption  diffused  through  all 
parts  of  the  soul,  attach  to  all  men,  and  this  first  makes 
them  obnoxious  to  the  anger  of  God,  and  then  comes 
forth  in  works,  which  the  Scripture  calls  works  of  the 
flesh.  (Gal.  5 :  19.)  Thus  all  are  held  vitiated  and  per- 
verted in  all  parts  of  their  nature,  and  on  account  of 
such  corruption  deservedly  condemned  before  God,  by 
whom  nothing  is  accepted  save  righteousness,  innocence 
and  purity.  Nor  does  that  mean  that  we  are  being 
bound  for  another's  offense;  for  when  it  is  said  that  we, 
through  Adam's  sin,  have  become  obnoxious  to  the  di- 
vine judgment,  it  is  not  to  be  taken  as  if  we,  being  our- 
selves innocent  and  blameless,  bear  the  fault  of  his  of- 
fense, but  that,  we  having  been  brought  under  a  curse 
through  his  transgression,  he  is  said  to  have  bound  us. 
From  him,  however,  not  only  has  punishment  over- 
taken us,  but  a  pestilence  instilled  from  him  resides  in 
us.  to  which  punishment  is  justly  due. 

2.  Uedemption.  To  redeem  man  from  this  state  of 
guilt,  and  to  recover  him  from  corruption,  the  Son  of 
God  became  incarnate,  assuming  man's  nature  into 
union  with  his  own,  so  that  in  him  there  are  two  natures 
in  one  person.  Thus  incarnate,  he  took  on  him  the  of- 
fices of  Prophet,  Priest  and  King,  and  by  His  humilia- 
tion, obedience  and  suffering  unto  death,  followed  by 
His  resurrection  and  ascension  to  heaven,  he  has  per- 
fected His  work  and  fulfilled  all  that  was  required  in 
a  Redeemer  of  men,  so  that  it  is  truly  affirmed  that  He 


WHAT   IS   CALVINISM?  155 

has  merited  for  man  tlie  grace  of  salvation.      (Bk.  II, 
eh.  13-17.) 

3.  Salvation. — But  until  a  man  is  in  some  way  really 
oiited  to  Christ,  so  as  to  partake  of  Him,  the  benefits  of 
Christ's  work  cannot  be  attained  by  him.  Now  it  is  by 
the  secret  and  special  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
men  are  united  to  Christ,  and  made  members  of  His 
body.  Through  faith,  which  is  a  firm  and  certain  cog- 
nition of  the  divine  benevolence  toward  us,  foimded  on 
the  truth  of  the  gracious  promise  in  Christ,  men  are, 
by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit,  united  to  Christ,  and 
are  made  partakers  of  His  death  and  resurrection,  so 
that  the  old  man  is  crucified  with  Him,  and  they  are 
raised  to  a  new  life,  a  life  of  righteousness  and  holiness. 
Thus  joined  to  Christ  the  believer  has  life  in  Him,  and 
knows  that  He  is  saved,  having  the  witness  of  the  Spirit 
that  he  is  a  child  of  God,  and  having  the  promises,  the 
certitude  of  which  the  Spirit  had  before  impressed  upon 
his  mind,  sealed  by  the  same  Spirit  on  the  heart.  (Bk. 
II,  ch.  33-36.)  From  faith  proceeds  repentance,  which 
is  the  turning  of  our  life  to  God,  proceeding  from  a  sin- 
cere and  earnest  fear  of  God,  and  consisting  in  the  mor- 
tification of  the  flesh  and  the  old  man  within  us,  and  a 
vivification  of  the  Spirit.  Through  faith,  also,  the  be- 
liever receives  justification,  his  sins  are  forgiven,  he  is 
accepted  of  God  and  is  held  by  him  as  righteous,  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  being  imputed  to  him,  and  faith 
being  the  instrument  by  which  man  lays  hold  on  Christ, 
so  that,  with  His  righteousness,  the  man  appears  in 
God's  sight  as  righteous.  This  imputed  righteousness, 
however,  is  not  disjoined  from  real  personal  righteous- 
ness, for  regeneration  and  sanctification  come  to  the  be- 
liever from   Christ  no  less  than   justification ;  the   two 


156  JOHN  CALVIN. 

blessings  are  not  to  be  confounded,  but  neither  are  they 
to  be  disjoined. 

/4.  Election. — -The  assurance  which  the  believer  has  of 
[salvation  he  receives  from  the  operation  and  witness  of 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  this  again  rests  on  the  divine  choice 
of  the  man  to  salvation ;  and  this  falls  back  on  God 's 
eternal  sovereign  purpose,  whereby  He  has  predestinated 
some  to  eternal  life,  while  the  rest  of  mankind  are  passed 
over  for  their  sin.  Those  whom  God  has  chosen  to  life 
He  effectually  calls  to  salvation,  and  they  are  kept  by 
Him  in  progressive  faith  and  holiness  unto  the  end. 
(Bk.  Ill,  passim.) 

5.  Means  of  Grace. — The  external  means  or  aids  by 
which  God  unites  men  into  the  fellowship  of  Christ, 
and  sustains  and  advances  those  who  believe,  are  the 
church  and  its  ordinances,  especially  the  sacraments. 
The  church  universal  is  the  multitude  gathered  from 
diverse  nations,  which,  though  divided  by  distance  of 
time  and  place,  agree  in  one  common  faith,  and  it  is 
bounded  by  the  tie  of  the  same  religion:  and  wherever 
the  word  of  God  is  sincerely  preached,  and  the  sacra- 
ments are  duly  administered,  according  to  Christ's  in- 
stitute, there,  beyond  doubt,  is  a  church  of  the  living 
God.     (Bk.  IV,  ch.  1,  sec.  7-11.) 

6.  Church  Officers. — The  permanent  officers  in  the 
church  are  pastors  and  teachers,  to  the  former  of  whom 
it  belongs,  to  preside  over  the  discipline  of  the  church, 
to  administer  the  sacraments,  and  to  admonish  and  ex- 
hort the  members,  while  the  latter  occupj'"  themselves 
with  the  exposition  of  Scripture,  so  that  pure  and 
wholesome  doctrine  may  be  retained.  With  them  are  to 
be  joined,  for  the  government  of  the  church,  certain 
pious,  grave  and  holy  men,  as  a  senate  in  each  church; 
and  to  others,  as  deacons,  is  to  be  entrusted  the  care 


WHAT   IS   CALVINISM?  157 

of  the  poor.  The  eleetioii  of  officers  in  a  church  is  to 
be  with  the  people,  and  those  duly  chosen  and  called  are 
to  be  ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
pastors.     (Ch.  3,  sec.  4-16.) 

7.  Sacraments.— The  sacraments  are  two — Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Baptism  is  the  sign  of  initia- 
tion, whereby  men  are  admitted  into  the  society  of  the 
church,  and,  being  grafted  into  Christ,  are  reckoned 
among  the  sons  of  God;  it  serves  both  for  the  confirma- 
tion of  faith  and  as  a  confession  before  men.  /The  Lord's 
Supper  is  a  spiritual  feast,  whereby  Christ  attests  that 
He  is  the  life-giving  bread  by  which  our  souls  are  fed 
unto  true  and  blessed  immortality.  That  sacred  com- 
munication of  His  flesh  and  blood  whereby  Christ  trans- 
fuses into  us  His  life,  even  as  if  it  penetrated  into  our 
bones  and  marrow.  He,  in  the  Supper,  attests  and  seals ; 
and  that  not  by  a  vain  or  empty  sign  set  before  us,  but 
there  He  puts  forth  the  efficacy  of  His  Spirit  whereby 
He  fulfills  what  He  promises.  In  the  mystery  of  the 
Supper,  Christ  is  truly  exhibited  to  us  by  the  symbols 
of  bread  and  wine,  and  so  His  body  and  blood,  in  which 
He  fulfilled  all  obedience  for  the  obtaining  of  righteous- 
ness for  us  are  presented.  There  is  no  such  presence 
of  Christ  in  the  Supper  as  that  He  is  affixed  to  the 
bread,  or  included  in  it,  or  in  any  way  circumscribed; 
but  whatever  can  express  the  true  and  substantial  com- 
munication of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  which  is 
exhibited  to  believers  imder  the  said  symbols  of  the 
Supper,  is  to  be  received,  and  that  not  as  perceived  by 
the  imagination  only,  or  mental  intelligence,  but  as  en- 
joyed for  the  aliment  of  the  eternal  life.  (Bk.  IV,  ch. 
15,17.) 

Calvin's  system,  as  will  be  seen  in  this  outline,  is  the 
reflection  of  his  great  mind — severe,  grand,  logical,  dar- 


158  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ing  in  the  heights  to  which  it  ascends,  yet  humble  in 
its  constant  reversion  to  the  Bible  as  its  basis.  Moimt- 
ing  to  the  throne  of  God,  the  reformer  reads  everything 
in  the  light  of  the  eternal  Divine  decree. 


CHAPTER     XXV. 

CALVINISM  AND  CIVIL  LIBERTY. 

This  heading  may  seem  to  some  to  contain  a  contra- 
diction in  terms,  but  only  to  those  who  misconstrue 
either  or  both  terms.  Many  of  the  foremost  historians, 
friends  and  foes,  find  no  difficulty  in  harmonizing  these 
two  conceptions,  because  the  facts  of  history  are  too 
plain.  Let  us  consider  the  latter  first  and  then  at- 
tempt an  explanation  of  these  facts. 

It  is  a  fact  that  all  nations  which  embraced  Calvinism 
to  some  extent  have  made  the  greatest  strides  in  civil 
liberty.  Buckle,  not  a  friend  of  Calvin,  says:  "It  is 
an  interesting  fact  that  the  doctrines  which  in  Eng- 
land are  called  Calvinistic  have  always  been  connected 
with  a  democratic  spirit,  while  those  of  Arminianism 
have  foimd  most  favor  among  the  aristocratic  party.  In 
the  republics  of  Switzerland,  North  America  and  Hol- 
land, Calvinism  was  always  the  popular  creed.  In  that 
sharp  retribution  which  follo\\ed  the  attempt  to  sup- 
press the  liberties  of  the  people  of  England  by  Charles  I. 
the  Puritans  and  Independents,  by  whom  the  king  was 
beheaded,  were,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  Calvinists. 
The  first  open  movement  against  King  Charles  pro- 
ceeded from  Scotland,  where  the  principles  of  Calvin 
had  long  been  in  the  ascendant."  Calvinism  created 
also  the  Dutch  Republic  and  made  it  "the  first  free  na- 
tion to  put  a  girdle  of  empire  around  the  world."  D'Au- 
bigne  and  the  American  historian  Motley  have  shown 
that,  until  Calvinism  took  possession  of  the  Netherlands, 
the  people  made  but  little  headway  against  Spain ;  but 
from  that  moment  they  never  faltered  for  well-nigh  a 

159 


160  JOHN   CALVIN. 

hundred  years,  until  their  independence  was  tri- 
umphantly established.  Motley  says:  "It  would  cer- 
tainly be  unjust  and  futile  to  detract  from  the  vast  debt 
which  that  republic  owed  to  the  Genevan  church."  The 
reformation  had  entered  the  Netherlands  by  the  Wal- 
loon gate  (that  is,  through  the  Calvinists).  The  earliest 
and  most  eloquent  preachers,  the  most  impassioned  con- 
verts, the  sublimest  martyrs,  had  lived,  preached,  fought, 
suffered  and  died  with  the  precepts  of  Calvin  in  their 
hearts. 

Does  any  reader  of  history  doubt  that  the  seed 
thoughts  of  Calvinism  sunk  into  the  hearts  of  French- 
men by  the  Huguenots  led  also  that  nation,  though  it  is 
to-day  nominalTy  T?oman  Catholic,  to  fight  for  and  after 
several  failures  eventually  to  succeed  in  establishing 
a  permanent  republic?  The  same  historian,  Motley, 
writes:  "Throughout  the  blood-stained  soil  of  France, 
too,  the  men  were  fighting  the  same  great  battle  as  were 
the  Netherlanders.  The  valiant  cavaliers  of  Dauphiny 
and  Provence  knelt  on  the  ground  before  the  battle,  smote 
their  iron  breasts  with  their  mailed  hands,  uttered  a 
Calvinistic  praj^er,  sang  a  psalm  of  Marot,  and  then 
charged  upon  Guise  under  the  white  plume  of  the 
Bearnese.  And  it  was  on  the  Calvinistic  weavers  and 
clothiers  of  Roche! le  that  the  Great  Prince  relied  in  the 
hour  of  danger.  Thus  to  the  Calvinists  more  than  to 
any  other  class  of  men,  the  political  liberties  of  Holland, 
England  and  America  are  due." 

The  famous  battle  of  the  Boyne,  in  Ireland,  in  1690, 
which  decided  the  fate  of  Protestantism  in  the  English- 
sipeaking  world  was  won  by  an  army,  in  which  the  whole 
Calvinistic  world  was  represented — Calvinists  from  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  Scotland,  France,  Germany,  Finland. 
Sweden,  Switzerland  and  even  two  hundred  negro  serv- 


CALVINISM    AND   CIVIL  LIBERTY.  161 

ants  of  Calvinists  flocked  to  the  standards  of  "William 
of  Orange  and  his  own  staunch  Hollanders. 

The  fire  which  had  consumed  the  last  vestige  of  royal 
and  sacerdotal  despotism  throughout  the  realm  of  Great 
Britain  had  been  lighted  by  the  hands  of  Calvinists. 
It  was  the  illustrious  Calvinist,  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  who  saved  English  liberty,  a  man  wlio,'  as  Ma- 
cauley  says,  found  in  the  strong  and  sharp  logic  of  the 
Genevan  school  something  that  suited  his  intellect  and 
his  temper,  the  keystone  of  whose  religion  was  the  doe- 
trine  of  predestination.  As  to  the  effect  of  William's 
victory,  the  most  successful  and  the  most  splendid 
recorded  in  history,  Macauley  says:  "It  has  been  of  all 
revolutions,  the  most  beneficent;  the  highest  eulogy  that 
can  be  pronounced  upon  it  is  this,  that  it  was  England's 
best,  and  that,  for  the  authority  of  law,  for  the  security 
of  property,  for  the  peace  of  our  streets,  for  the  happi- 
ness of  our  homes,  our  gratitude  is  due,  mider  Him  who 
raises  and  pulls  down  nations  at  His  pleasure,  to  the 
Long  Parliament,  to  the  Convention  and  to  William  of 
Orange."  And  David  Hume's  testimony  to  the  worth 
of  the  Calvinistic  Puritans  is  equally  strong.  ''So  ab- 
solute," he  says,  ''was  the  authority  of  the  crown  that 
the  precious  spark  of  liberty  had  been  kindled  and  was 
preserved  by  the  Puritans  alone,  and  it  was  to  this  sect 
that  the  English  owe  the  whole  freedom  of  their  consti- 
tution." And  Taine,  referring  to  the  Calvinists  of 
Great  Britain,  says:  "These  men  are  the  true  heroes  of 
England;  they  display,  in  high  relief,  the  original  char- 
acteristics and  noblest  features  of  England — practical 
piety,  the  rule  of  conscience,  manl.y  resolution,  indomit- 
able energy.  They  foimded  England,  in  spite  of  the 
corruption  of  the  Stuarts  and  the  relaxation  of  modem 
manners,  by  exercise  of  duty,  by  the  practice  of  justice, 


\ 


162  JOHN  CALVIN. 

by  obstinate  toil,  by  vindication  of  right,  by  resistance 
to  oppression,  by  the  conquest  of  liberty,  by  the  re- 
pression of  vice.  They  founded  Scotland ;  they  founded 
the  United  States;  at  this  day  they  are,  by  the  descend- 
ants, founding  Australia  and  colonizing  the  world." 

The  judgment  of  the  historian  Ranke  that  "John 
Calvin  was  virtually  the  founder  of  America,"  and  of 
Bancroft,  "he  that  will  not  honor  the  memory  and 
respect  the  influence  of  Calvin  knows  but  little  of  the 
origin  of  American  independence"  are  well  knoun. 
Their  opinions  are  borne  out  b}^  American  history. 

The  various  bodies  of  Calvinists:  Puritans,  Presby- 
terians, German  Palatines  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Dutch 
in  New  York  and  the  Huguenots  stood  firm  like  a  rock 
for  American  independence.  The  Germans  are  generally 
overlooked  in  this  connection  in  American  text-books, 
but  history  tells  us  plainly  that  they  formed  such  a  large 
and  important  element  in  the  colonies  that  without  their 
assistance  in  men  and  money  it  would  have  been  almost 
impossible  to  gain  the  final  victory  for  independence. 
When  the  first  rumblings  of  independence  Avere  heard, 
George  III  desired  to  know,  first,  how  the  Germans  in 
the  colonies  stood,  and,  secondly,  how  many  of  them  had 
been  soldiers  in  the  wars  of  Frederick  the  Great.  When 
he  heard  the  truth,  his  countenance  fell.  General  Von 
Steuben,  the  German  drillmaster  of  Washington's  de- 
moralized army,  was  an  elder  in  the  Reformed  Church 
at  New  York,  where  his  ]\remorial  Tablet  may  still  be 
seen. 

Reader:  study  Calvinism  in  history  in  the  books  of 
disinterested  historians  like  INIotley,  Froude,  Bancroft. 
Ranke  and  others,  before  you  purse  up  your  lips  again, 
when  the  name  of  Calvin  is  mentioned ! 


CALVINISM   AND   CIVIL  LIBERTY.  163 

The  fact  that  Calvinism  is  favorable  to  popular  lib- 
erty is  also  shown  by  the  open  or  secret  aversion  of  kings 
and  princes  and  their  mouthpieces  against  the  system. 
James  1  of  England,  believing  episcopacy  to  be  the 
natural  ally  of  the  throne,  and  knowing  from  past  ex- 
perience that  he  could  not  bend  the  Presbyterians  to  his 
will,  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  overthrow  of 
Calvinism  in  Scotland.  Charles  I,  the  son  of  James, 
gave  as  the  reason  why  his  father  had  subverted  the 
republican  form  of  government  of  the  Scottish  church, 
that  the  Presbyterian  and  monarchical  forms  of  govern- 
ment do  not  harmonize.  "No  bishop,  no  king!"  De 
Tocrpieville,  admitting  the  same,  calls  Calvinism,  "a 
democratic  and  republican  religion."  Even  in  the  last 
century,  the  Reformed  king  of  Prussia.  Frederic  Wil- 
liam IV,  tried  to  inject  episcopal ianism  into  the  church 
government  of  his  realm,  and  had  actually  appointed 
one  clergyman  as  "bishop."  When  the  Rhenish  and 
Westphalian  Synods  objected,  he,  in  his  anger,  de- 
noimced  them  as  "plebejan  synods"  ("Poebelsynode"). 
Only  two  months  ago,  in  1908,  criticisms  were  heard 
directed  towards  the  composition  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Prussian  Church,  as  being  a  conclave  of  noble- 
men and  royal  appointees  instead  of  a  representation 
of  the  general  community  in  the  church. 

The  fact  that  Calvinism  is  favorable  to  civil  liberty 
having  been  proved  by  the  unerring  witness  of  history, 
the  question  arises,  what  is  there  in  Calvinism  leading  to 
such  a  result?  Let  two  American  writers  answer, 
neither  of  whom  is  overfriendly  to  Calvinism,  Dr.  Fisher 
and  H.  W.  Beecher.  "One  reason,"  Fisher  says,  "lies 
in  the  boundary  line  which  it  drew  between  Church  and 
State.  Calvinism  would  not  surrender  the  peculiar 
functions  of  the  church  to  civil  authoritv.    Whether  the 


164  JOHN  CALVIN. 

church,  or  the  government  should  regulate  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments,  and  admit  or  reject  communi- 
cants, was  the  question  which  Calvin  fought  out  with  the 
authorities  at  Geneva.  In  this  feature,  Calvinism  dif- 
fered from  the  relation  of  the  civil  rulers  to  the  church, 
as  estahlished  under  the  auspices  of  Zwingli,  as  well  as 
of  Luther  and  from  the  Anglican  system  which  orig- 
inated under  Henry  VIII.  In  its  theory  of  the  re- 
spective powers  of  the  church,  and  of  the  magistrate, 
Calvinism  approximated  to  the  traditional  view  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  In  France,  in  Holland,  in  Scotland, 
in  England,  wherever  Calvinism  was  planted,  it  had 
no  scruples  about  resisting  the  t^^ranny  of  civil  rulers. 
This  principle,  in  the  long  run,  would  inevitably  con- 
duce to  the  progress  of  civil  freedom.  It  is  certain  that 
the  distinction  between  Church  and  State,  which  was 
recognized  from  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  not- 
withstanding the  long  ages  of  intolerance  and  persecu- 
tion that  were  to  follow,  was  the  first  step,  the  necessary 
condition,  in  the  development  of  religious  liberty.  First, 
it  must  be  settled  that  the  State  shall  not  stretch  its 
power  over  the  Church,  within  its  proper  sphere;  next, 
that  the  State  shall  not  lend  its  power  to  the  Church,  as 
an  executioner  of  ecclesiastical  laws. 

A  second  reason  why  Calvinism  has  been  favorable 
to  civil  liberty  is  found  in  the  republican  character  of 
its  church  organization.  Laymen  shared  power  with 
ministers.  The  people,  the  body  of  the  congregation, 
took  an  active  and  responsible  part  in  the  chain  of 
clergy,  and  of  all  other  officers.  At  Geneva,  the  alliance 
of  the  Church  with  civil  authority,  and  the  circum- 
stances in  which  Calvin  was  placed,  reduced  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  the  real  power  of  the  people  in  Church 
affairs.     Calvin  did  not  realize  his  own  theory.     But 


CALVINISM  AND   CIVIL  LIBERTY.  165 

elsewhere,  especially  in  countries  where  Calvinism  had 
to  encounter  the  hostility  of  the  State,  the  democratic 
tendencies  of  the  system  had  full  room  for  development. 
Men  who  were  accustomed  to  rule  themselves  in  the 
Church,  would  claim  the  same  privilege  in  the  common- 
wealth. 

Another  source  of  the  influence  of  Calvinism  in  ad- 
vancing the  cause  of  civil  liberty,  had  been  derived 
from  its  theology.  The  sense  of  the  exaltation  of  the 
Almighty  Ruler,  and  of  His  intimate  connection  with 
the  minutest  incidents  and  the  obligations  of  human 
life,  which  is  fostered  by  this  theology,  dwarfs  all  earthly 
potentates.  An  intense  spirituality,  a  consciousness  that 
\,  this  life  is  but  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  human  ex- 
istence, dissipates  the  feeling  of  personal  homage  for 
men,  however  high  their  station,  and  dulls  the  lustre 
of  earthly  grandeur.  Calvinism  and  Romanism  are  the 
antipodes  of  each  other.  Yet,  it  is  curious  to  observe 
that  the  effect  of  these  opposite  systems  upon  the  atti- 
tude of  men  towards  the  civil  authority,  has  often  been 
not  dissimilar.  But  the  Calvin ist,  milike  the  Romanist, 
dispenses  with  the  human  priesthood,  which  has  not 
only  often  proved  a  powerful  direct  auxiliary  to  tem- 
poral rulers,  but  has  educated  the  sentiments  to  a  habit 
of  subjection,  M^hich  renders  submission  to  such  rulers 
more  facile,  and  less  easy  to  shake  off." 

In  a  similar  strain  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
says :  "It  has  ever  been  a  mystery  to  the  so-called  lib- 
erals, that  the  Calvinists,  with  what  they  have  consid- 
ered their  harshly  despotic  and  rigid  view  and  doctrines, 
should  always  have  been  the  staunchest  and  bravest  de- 
fenders of  freedom.  The  working  for  liberty  of  these 
severe  principles  in  the  minds  of  those  that  adopted 
them  has  been  a  puzzle.     But  the  truth  lies  here :    Cal- 


1U6  JOHN  CALVIN. 

vinism  has  done  what  no  other  religion  has  ever  been 
able  to  do:  It  presents  the  highest  human  ideal  to  the 
world,  and  sweeps  the  whole  road  to  destruction  with 
the  most  appalling  battery  that  can  be  imagined. 

''It  intensifies,  beyond  all  example,  the  individuality 
of  man,  and  shows  in  a  clear  and  overpowering  light, 
his  responsibility  to  God  and  his  relations  to  eternity. 
It  points  out  man  as  entering  life  under  the  weight  of  a 
tremendous  responsibility  having,  on  his  march  toward 
the  grave,  this  one  sole  solace — of  securing  heaven  and 
of  escaping  hell. 

"Thus  the  Calvinist  sees  man  pressed,  burdened, 
urged  on,  by  the  most  mighty  influencing  forces.  He 
is  on  the  march  for  eternity,  and  is  soon  to  stand  crowned 
in  heaven  or  to  lie  sweltering  in  hell,  there  to  continue 
for  ever  and  ever.  Who  shall  dare  to  fetter  such  a 
being  ?  Get  out  of  his  way !  Hinder  him  not,  or  do  it 
at  the  peril  of  your  own  soul.  Leave  him  free  to  find 
his  way  to  God.  Meddle  not  with  him  or  with  his 
rights.  Let  him  Avork  out  his  salvation  as  he  can.  No 
hand  must  be  laid  crushingly  upon  a  creature  who  is  on 
such  a  race  as  this — a  race  whose  end  is  to  be  eternal 
glory  or  unutterable  woe  forever  and  ever. ' '  With  these 
agree  men  like  IMontesquier.  who  truly  observes  that 
"a  religion  which  has  no  visible  head  is  more  agreeable 
to  the  independence  of  the  people,  than  that  which  has 
one."  And  Bancroft  remarks,  "Calvinism  saw  in  good- 
ness infinite  joy,  in  evil  infinite  woe,  and,  recognizing 
no  other  abiding  distinctions,  opposed  secretly,  l)ut 
surely,  hereditary  monarchy,  aristocracy  and  bondage." 
On  this  whole  discussion,  compare  "Calvinism  in  His- 
tory," by  Rev.  N.  S.  McFetridge,  to  which  we  are 
greatly  indebted  for  this  review. 


CHAPTER     XXVI. 

CALVINISM  AND  MORALITY. 

St.  Paul,  iu  Chapters  6,  7  and  8  of  Romans,  as  well 
as  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  Question  64,  found  it  nec- 
essary to  meet  the  charge  that  a  system  like  Calvinism 
is  unfavorable  to  sound  morality.  Modern  writers  on 
ethics  have  also  made  out — on  paper — a  strong  case 
against  what  they  call  the  evil  influences  of  Calvinism 
on  the  moral  consciousness  of  the  people.  Even  the 
popes,  as  recently  as  Pius  IX  and  Leo  XIII,  had  the 
alfrontery,  in  the  face  of  the  low  moral  condition  of 
Roman  Catholic  coiimumities,  to  attribute  the  prevailing 
crimes  of  modern  society  to  the  ' '  pest  of  Protestantism. ' ' 

But  here  again  the  facts  are  against  these  and  any  other 
detractors.  As  Froude  says:  "Grapes  do  not  grow  on 
bramble-bushes.  Illustrious  natures  do  not  form  them- 
selves on  narrow  and  cruel  theories.  The  practical  ef- 
fect of  a  belief  is  the  real  test  of  its  soundness.  Where 
we  find  an  heroic  life  appearing  as  the  uniform  fruit  of 
a  particular  mode  of  opinion,  it  is  childish  to  argue  in 
the  face  of  fact  that  the  result  ought  to  have  been  differ- 
ent." Our  Saviour  says:  "a  good  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  evil  fruit;  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth 
good  fruit."  Very  few  will  dare  to  contradict  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  who,  although  he  opposed  Calvinism  in 
several  of  its  strongest  features,  says : -^^  There  is  no 
system  which  equals  Calvinism  in  intensifying  to  the 
last  degree  ideas  of  moral  excellence  and  purity  of 
character.  There  never  was  a  system  since  the  world 
stood  which  puts  upon  man  such  motives  to  holiness,  or 
which  builds  batteries  that  sweep  the  whole  ground  of 

167 


168  JOHX  CAi.viNr. 

sin  with  such  horrible  artillery.  Men  may  talk  as  much 
as  they  please  against  Calvinism,  but  you  will  find  that 
when  they  want  to  make  an  investment,  they  have  no  A 
objection  to  Calvinists.  They  know  that  where  these 
systems  prevail,  there  their  capital  may  be  safely  in- 
vested. People  tell  us  that  Calvinism  plies  men  with 
hammer  and  with  chisel.  It  does;  and  the  result  is 
monumental  marble.  Other  systems  leave  men  soft  and 
dirty;  Calvinism  leaves  them  of  white  marble  to  endure 
forever."  The  secret  of  all  this  is,  that  the  one  char- 
acteristic of  Calvinistic  morality  which  makes  it  so 
efficient,  is  its  insistence  on  conscience  and  duty,  rather 
than  on  sentiment  and  feeling.  The  first  and  last  ques- 
tion of  a  true  Calvinist  is,  "Is  it  right?"  These  prin- 
ciples made  strong  men  and  women — sometimes  dis- 
agreeable, it  is  true,  but  manly  and  reliable.  "I  am 
going  to  ask  you,"  says  Froude,  "to  consider  how  it 
came  to  pass  that  if  Calvinism  is  indeed  the  hard 
and  unreasonable  creed  which  modem  enlightenment 
declares  it  to  be,  it  has  possessed  such  singiilar  attrac- 
tions in  past  times  for  some  of  the  greatest  men  that 
ever  lived ;  and  how,  being  as  we  are  told,  fatal  to  moral- 
ity, because  it  denies  free-will,  the  first  symptom  of 
this  operation  wherever  it  established  itself  was  to  ob- 
literate the  distinction  between  sins  and  crimes,  and  to 
make  the  moral  law  the  rule  of  life  for  states  as  well 
as  persons.  I  shall  ask  you  again  why,  if  it  be  a  creed  of 
intellectual  servitude,  it  was  able  to  inspire  and  sustain 
the  bravest  efforts  ever  made  by  men  to  break  the  yoke 
of  unjust  authority?  "When  all  else  has  failed,  when 
patriotism  has  covered  its  face  and  human  courage  has 
broken  down ;  when  intellect  has  yielded,  as  Gibbons 
says,  'with  a  smile  or  a  sigh,*  content  to  philosophize  in 
the  closet  and  abroad  to  worship  with  the  vulgar;  when 


CALVINISM  AND  MORALITY.  169 

emotion  and  sentiment  and  tender  imaginative  piety 
have  become  the  handmaids  of  superstition,  and  have 
dreamt  themselves  into  forgetfulness  that  there  is  any 
difference  between  lies  and  truth,- — the  'slavish'  form  of 
the  belief  called  Calvinism,  in  one  or  other  of  its  many 
forms,  has  borne  ever  an  inflexible  front  to  illusion  and 
mendacity,  and  has  preferred  rather  to  be  ground  into 
powder  like  flint  than  to  bend  before  violence  or  melt 
under  enervating  temptation."'  In  illustration  of  this 
lie  mentions  William  the  Silent,  Luther,  Knox,  Andrew 
^Melville,  the  Regent  Murray,  Coligny,  Cromwell,  Milton, 
Bunyan,  and  saj^s  of  them:  "These  were  men  possessed 
■of  all  the  qualities  which  give  nobility  and  grandeur  to 
human  nature — men  whose  life  was  as  upright  as  their 
intellect  was  commanding  and  their  public  aims  un- 
tainted with  selfishness;  unalterably  just  where  duty 
required  them  to  be  stern,  but  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
woman  in  their  hearts,  frank,  true,  cheerful,  humorous, 
as  imlike  sour  fanatics  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine  any- 
one and  able  in  some  way  to  soimd  the  keynote  to  which 
every  brave  and  faithful  heart  in  Europe  instinctively 
vibrated. ' ' ) 

This  book  being  intended  for  popular  use,  we  cannot 
enter  into  a  detailed  discussion  of  Calvinism  as  an 
ethical  force.  "We  wish  to  append,  however,  a  para- 
graph from  Dr.  Kuyper's  ''Lectures  on  Calvinism,"  in 
which  he  discusses  the  attitude  of  that  system  to  popular 
amusements.    He  writes : 

"Not  every  intimate  intercourse  with  the  unconverted 
world  is  deemed  lawful,  by  Calvinism,  for  it  placed  a 
barrier  against  the  too  unhallowed  influence  of  this 
world  by  putting  a  distinct  veto  upon  three  things,  card 
playing,   theatres  and  dancing — three  forms  of  amuse- 


170  JOHN  CALVIN. 

ment  which  I  shall  first  treat  separately,  and  then  set 
forth  in  their  combined  significance. 

Card  playing  has  been  placed  under  a  ban  by  Calvin- 
ism, not  as  though  games  of  all  kinds  were  forbidden, 
nor  as  though  something  demoniacal  lurked  in  the  cards 
themselves,  but  because  it  fosters  in  our  heart  the  dan- 
gerous tendency  to  look  awaj^  from  God,  and  to  put  our 
trust  in  Fortune  or  Luck.  A  game  which  is  decided  by 
keenness  of  vision,  quickness  of  action,  and  range  of 
experience,  is  ennobling  in  its  character,  but  a  game  like 
cards,  which  is  chiefiy  decided  hj  the  way  in  which  the 
cards  are  arranged  in  the  package,  and  blindly  dis- 
tributed, induces  us  to  attach  a  certain  significance  to 
that  fatal  imaginative  power,  outside  of  God,  called 
Chance  or  Fortune.  To  this  kind  of  unbelief,  everyone 
of  us  is  inclined.  The  fever  of  stock-gambling  shews 
daily  how  much  more  strongly  people  are  attracted  and 
influenced  by  the  nod  of  Fortune,  than  by  solid  appli- 
cation to  their  work.  Therefore  the  Calvinist  judged 
that  the  rising  generation  ought  to  be  guarded  against 
this  dangerous  tendency,  because,  by  means  of  card- 
playing  it  would  be  fostered.  And  since  the  sensation 
of  God's  ever-enduring  presence  was  felt  by  Calvin  and 
his  adherents  as  the  never-failing  source  from  which 
they  drew  their  stern  seriousness  of  life,  they  could  not 
help  loathing  a  game  which  poisoned  this  source  by  plac- 
ing Fortune  above  the  disposition  of  God,  and  the 
hankering  after  Chance  above  the  firm  confidence  in  His 
will.  To  fear  God,  and  to  bid  for  the  favors  of  Fortune, 
seemed  to  him  as  irreconcilable  as  fire  and  water. 

Entirely  different  objections  were  entertained  against 
Theatre-going.  In  itself  there  is  nothing  sinful  in  fic- 
tion ; — the  power  of  the  imagination  is  a  precious  gift  of 
God  Himself.     Neither  is  there  any  special  evil  in  dra- 


CALVINISM  AND  MOR.VLITY.  171 

rnatic  imagination.  How  highly  did  Milton  appreciate 
Shakespeare's  drama,  and  did  not  he  himself  write  in 
dramatic  form  ?  Nor  did  the  evil  lie  in  public  theatrical 
representations,  as  such.  Public  performances  were 
given  for  all  the  people  at  Geneva,  in  the  Market  Place, 
in  Calvin's  time,  and  with  his  approval.  No,  that  which 
offended  our  ancestors  was  not  the  comedy  or  tragedy, 
nor  should  have  been  the  opera,  in  itself,  but  the  moral 
sacrifice  which  as  a  rule  was  demanded  of  actors  and 
actresses,  for  the  amusement  of  the  public.  A  theatrical 
troop,  in  those  days  especially,  stood,  morally,  rather 
low.  This  low  moral  standard  resulted  partly  from  the 
fact  that  the  constant  and  ever  changing  presentation  of 
the  character  of  another  person  finally  hampers  the 
moulding  of  your  personal  character ;  and  partly  becaust 
our  modern  theatres,  unlike  the  Greek,  have  introduced 
the  presence  of  women  on  the  stage,  the  prosperity  of 
the  theatre  being  too  often  guaged  by  the  measure  in 
which  a  woman  jeopardizes  the  most  sacred  treasures 
God  entrusts  to  her,  her  stainless  name  and  irreproach- 
able conduct.  Certainly,  a  strictly  moral  theatre  is  very 
well  conceivable ;  but  with  the  exception  of  a  few  large 
cities,  such  theatres  would  neither  be  sufficiently  patron- 
ized nor  could  exist  financially ;  and  the  actual  fact  re- 
mains that,  taken  all  the  world  over,  the  prosperity  of 
a  theatre  often  increases  in  proportion  to  the  moral 
degradation  of  the  actors.  Too  often,  therefore — Hall 
Caine,  in  his  ''Christian"  corroborated  once  more  the 
sad  truth — the  prosperity  of  a  theatre  is  purchased  at 
the  cost  of  manly  character  and  of  female  purity.  And 
the  purchase  of  delight  for  the  ear  and  the  eye  at  the 
price  of  such  a  moral  hecatomb,  the  Calvinist,  who  hon- 
ored whatever  was  human  in  man  for  the  sake  of  God, 
could  not  but  condemn. 


172  JOHN  CAIiVTN. 

Finally,  so  far  as  the  dance  is  concerned,  even  worldly 
papers,  like  the  Parisian  ''Figaro,"  at  present  justify 
the  position  of  the  Calvinist.  Only  recently  an  article 
in  this  paper  called  attention  to  the  moral  pain  with 
which  a  father  takes  his  daugher  into  the  ball-room  for 
the  first  time.  This  moral  pain,  it  declared,  is  evident, 
in  Paris  at  least,  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  whis- 
perings, indecent  looks  and  actions  prevalent  in  those 
pleasure-loving  circles.  Here,  also,  the  Calvinist  does 
not  protest  agairist  the  dance  itself,  but  exclusively 
against  the  impurity  to  which  it  is  often  in  danger  of 
leading. 

With  this  I  return  to  the  barrier  of  which  I  spolvc. 
Our  fathers  perceived  excellently  well  that  it  was  just 
these  three:  Dancing,  Card-playing  and  Theatre-going, 
with  which  the  world  was  madlj^  in  love.  In  worldly 
circles  these  pleasures  were  not  regarded  as  secondary 
trifles,  but  honored  as  all-important  matters;  and  who- 
ever dared  to  attack  them  exposed  himself  to  the  bitter- 
est scorn  and  enmity.  For  this  very  reason,  they  recog- 
nized, in  these  three,  the  Rubicon  which  no  true  Calvin- 
ist could  cross  without  sacrificing  his  earnestness  to 
dangerous  mirth,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  to,  often  far 
from,  spotless  pleasures.  And  now  may  I  ask,  has  not 
the  result  justified  their  strong  and  brave  protest  ?  Even 
yet,  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  you  will  find,  in 
any  Calvinistic  eoimtry,  in  Scotland,  and  in  your  own 
States,  entire  social  circles  into  which  this  worldliness 
is  never  allowed  to  enter,  but  in  which  the  richness  of 
human  life  has  turned,  from  without,  inward,  and  in 
which,  as  the  result  of  a  sound  spiritual  concentration, 
there  has  been  developed  such  a  deep  sense  of  everything 
high,  and  such  an  energy  for  everything  holy,  as  to 
excite  the  envy  even  of  our  antagonists.     Not  only  lias 


CALVINISM  AND  MORALITY.  173 

the  wing  of  the  butterfly  in  those  circles  been  preserved 
intact,  but  even  the  gold  dust  upon  this  wing  shines  as 
brilliantly  as  ever. 

This,  now,  is  the  proof  to  which  I  invite  your  respect- 
ful attention.  Our  age  is  far  ahead  of  the  Calvinistic 
age  in  its  overflowing  mass  of  ethical  essays  and  treatises 
and  learned  expositions.  Philosophers  and  theologians 
really  vie  with  each  other  in  discovering  for  us  (or  in 
hiding  from  us,  just  as  you  may  be  pleased  to  put  it) 
the  straight  road  in  the  domain  of  morals.  But  there  is 
something  that  all  this  host  of  learned  scholars  have  not 
been  able  to  to.  They  have  not  been  able  to  restore 
moral  firmness  to  the  enfeebled  public  conscience. 

Bather  must  we  complain  that  ever  more  and  more  the 
foundations  of  our  moral  building  are  gradually  being 
loosened  and  unsettled,  until  finally  there  remains  not 
cue  stronghold  left  of  which  the  people  in  their  wider 
ranks  can  feel  that  it  guarantees  moral  certainty  for  the 
future.  Statesmen  and  jurists  are  openly  proclaiming 
the  right  of  the  strongest ;  the  ownership  of  property  is 
called  stealing;  free  love  has  been  advocated,  and  hon- 
esty is  ridiculed.  A  pantheist  has  dared  to  put  Jesus 
and  Nero  on  the  same  footing;  and  Nietzsche,  going 
further  still,  deemed  Christ's  blessing  of  the  meek  to  be 
the  curse  of  humanity. 

Now  compare  with  all  this  the  marvellous  results  of 
three  centuries  of  Calvinism.  Calvinism  imderstood 
that  the  world  was  not  to  be  saved  by  ethical  philoso- 
phizing, but  only  by  the  restoration  of  tenderness  of 
conscience.  Therefore  it  did  not  indulge  in  reasoning, 
but  appealed  directly  to  the  soul,  and  placed  it  face  to 
face  with  the  living  God,  so  that  the  heart  trembled,  at 
ITis  holy  majesty,  and  in  that  majesty,  discovered  the 
"lorv  of  TTis  lovo.      And   "bon.  going  bnek  in  this  his- 


174  JOHN  CALVIN. 

torical  review,  you  observe  how  thoroughly  corrupt  and 
rotten  Calvinism  found  the  world,  to  what  depth  moral 
life  at  that  time  had  sunk,  in  the  courts  and  among 
the  people,  in  the  clergy,  and  among  the  leaders  of 
science,  among  men  and  women,  among  the  higher  and 
the  lower  classes  of  society: — then  what  censor  among 
you  wall  dare  to  deny  the  palm  of  moral  victory  to 
Calvinism,  which,,  in  one  generation,  though  hunted 
from  the  battlefield  to  the  scaffold,  created  throughout 
five  nations  at  once,  many  serious  groups  of  noble  men, 
and  still  nobler  women,  hitherto  unsurpassed  in  the 
loftiness  of  their  ideal  conceptions,  and  unequalled  in 
the  power  of  their  moral  self-control." 


CHAPTER     XXVII. 

CALVINISM  AND  MODERN  THOUGHT. 

The  term  Calvinism  implies  infinitely  more  than 
merely  a  doctrinal  system;  it  denotes  an  entire  "Welt- 
anschauung, ' '  a  general  world  view.  Authors  like  Kuy- 
per,  Bancroft,  Froude,  Ranke  and  others  have  brought 
out  this  feature  of  Calvinism  in  a  most  lucid  way.  Dr. 
Ku3'per,  former  Prime  ]\Iinister  of  Holland,  in  his  six 
lectures  on  ' '  Calvinism, ' '  writes :  ' '  This  term  serves  also 
as  a  scientific  name,  either  in  an  historical,  philosophical 
or  poetical  sense.  Historically,  the  name  of  Calvinism 
indicates  the  channel  in  which  the  reformation  moved, 
in  so  far  as  it  was  neither  Lutheran,  nor  Anabaptist,  nor 
Socinian.  In  the  philosophical  sense,  we  understand  by 
it  that  system  of  conceptions  which  under  the  influence 
of  the  master-mind  of  Calvin  raised  itself  to  dominance 
m  the  several  spheres  of  life.  And  as  a  political  name, 
Calvinism  indicates  that  political  movement  which  has 
guaranteed  the  liberty  of  nations  in  constitutional  states- 
manship. In  this  scientific  sense,  the  name  of  Calvin- 
ism is  especially  current  among  German  scholars, 
M-hether  they  are  friendly  or  opposed  to  the  man  and 
his  system."  Taking  the  term  in  this  strictly  scientific 
sense  as  a  principle  of  life  and  thought.  Dr.  Kuyper  in 
his  book  speaks  of  1.  Calvinism  as  a  life  system;  2.  C. 
and  Religion;  3.  C.  and  Politics;  4.  C.  and  Science; 
5.  C.  and  Art;  6.  C.  and  the  Future. 

Tn  the  same  strain,  Dr.  Beattie  Avrites  in  his  thought- 
ful tract  on  "Calvinism,"  which  has  been  extensively 
used  in  the  preparation  of  the  latter  part  of  this  chap- 
ter, as  follows:    "Calvinism  has  its  own  philosophy  of 

175 


176  JOHN  CALVIN. 

nature,  its  theory  of  the  human  race,  its  interpretation 
of  human  history,  its  scheme  of  civil  government,  its 
doctrine  of  the  Church  and  its  well-defined  view  of  the 
relation  between  the  Church  and  civil  government.  Its 
philosophy  of  nature  is  monistic  theism.  Its  theory 
of  the  race  of  mankind  is  to  the  effect  that  in  some  way 
it,  has  been  constituted  an  organic  or  corporate  whole. 
Its  interpretation  of  the  history  of  the  race  is  that  God 
is  working  out  His  great  plan  in  all  that  happens  in  the 
passing  centuries. ' ' 

However  low  one's  Calvinism  may  be  as  regards 
doctrinal  definitions,  there  should  be  no  hesitancy  in  any 
adherent  of  a  Reformed  or  Presbyterian  Church  proudly 
to  confess  himself  a  Calvinist  in  this  larger  and  scien- 
tific sense  of  the  word,  as  over  against  the  Weltanschau- 
ung of  Romanism,  Lutheranism  or  materialistic  monism. 

Having  defined  Calvinism  in  the  wider  scientific  sense 
of  the  term,  we  are  now  prepared  to  raise  the  question  as 
to  its  relation  to  the  best  aspects  of  modern  thought  as 
manifested  in  the  four  great  areas  of  inquiry  and  re- 
search— in  history,  philosophy,  science  and  sociology. 

1.  In  the  Sphere  of  History. — Historical  research  in 
modern  times  has  made  wonderful  advances.  It  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  mere  annals  and  statistics.  It  has 
acquired  a  distinct  method  of  its  own,  which  is  well 
known  as  the  historical  method.  The  historian  is  no 
longer  content  to  recite  mere  story  and  tradition,  but 
seeks  accuracy  by  getting,  so  far  as  possible,  at  the 
original  sources  of  information.  "With  scrupulous  care 
he  seeks  to  separate  fact  from  myth,  event  from  opinion, 
and  to  ascertain  the  actual  reality  of  the  things  with 
which  he  deals. 

Modern  historical  methods  have  also  sought  to  dis- 
cover and  trace  out  the  inner  connections  and  inherent 


CALVINISM  AND   MODERN  THOUGHT.  ]77 

relations  of  the  events  which  have  transpired  in  the 
past.  This  is  what  is  rightly  called  the  philosophy  of 
histor}^,  and  in  many  respects  the  true  interest  and  real 
value  of  history  lie  in  this  direction.  By  this  means  it 
is  shown  that  the  events  of  history  are  not  isolated  hap- 
penings, but  are  intimately  related  to  each  other  in 
logical  order  and  rational  connection.  We  often  use 
the  phrase,  "the  logic  of  events,"  and  little  think  how 
much  it  means.  It  may  be  going  too  far  to  say,  with  the 
Hegelian  school,  that  history  is  the  concrete  expression 
of  the  forms  of  reason,  and  that  all  historical  incidents 
must  be  construed  in  accordance  with  the  logical  cate- 
gories. Still,  modern  historical  method  is  more  and 
more  recognizing  the  profoundly  important  fact  that 
Lhere  is  a  rational  factor  in  all  history,  and  that  one 
(•urpose  seems  to  rmi  through  the  ages. 

In  all  of  this  there  is  an  echo  of  Calvinism.  This  sys- 
tem teaches,  as  no  other  does,  that  God  is  the  sovereign 
Ruler  over  all  the  affairs  of  men,  and  that  he  is  slowly 
but  surely  working  out  His  eternal  purposes  concerning 
men  in  the  march  of  the  centuries.  He  it  is  who  estab- 
lishes thrones  and  sets  up  princes.  He  it  is  who  removes 
kings,  and  allows  empires  to  pass  away.  He  even  uses 
one  nation  to  overthrow  another,  to  accomplish  His  far- 
reaching  purposes  thereby. 

But  further,  God'st  eternal  purpose  rimning  through 
all  the  ages  has  a  moral  quality  belonging  to  it.  Human 
history  is  not  merely  rational ;  it  is  also  moral.  Right- 
eousness and  wickedness  play  a  large  part  on  the  stage 
of  human  history.  The  drama  is  often  a  terrible  con- 
flict between  these  opposing  forces.  By  the  great  apos- 
tasy in  paradise  the  stream  of  human  history  was  turned 
into  the  channel  of  evil.  But  the  divine  purpose  of 
grace  has  opened  up  a  new  channel,  and  the  opposing 


178  JOHN  CALVIN, 

forces  have  been  dashing  against  each  other  ever  since. 
Here,  again,  it  is  Calvinism  which,  Avith  its  comprehens- 
ive view  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  and  of  His  eternal 
redeeming  purpose,  can  solve  this  riddle  better  than  any 
other  system;  and  we  may  confidently  believe  that,  as 
the  true  philosophy  of  history  is  more  and  more  fully 
unfolded,  Calvinism  will  be  found  to  be  abreast  of  its 
latest  and  best  results. 

2.  In  the  Sphere  of  Philosophy. — Philosophy  is  reflec- 
tion, the  thinking  consideration  of  things.  It  is  the  search 
for  causes,  the  inquiry  after  reasons.  Each  age  has  its 
own.  peculiar  philosophical  tendency.  The  pendulum 
of  speculation  swings  from  one  system  to  another  through 
the  ages.  It  may  be  safely  said  fhc-  '^e  tendency  of  the 
noblest  philosophical  thinking-  '  .^  day  is  toward  a 
unitary  system.  This  meaiitj  a  system  with  a  single 
principle  by  which  all  things  are  to  be  explained.  Hence 
the  drift  in  modern  thought  toward  some  type  of  monism 
is  natural.  In  the  past,  this  tendency  has  appeared  in 
materialism,  which  seeks  to  explain  all  things  from  the 
atom  and  physical  force ;  and  in  pantheism,  which  holds 
to  an  impersonal  first  principle  of  all  existence.  But  in 
our  own  day  a  nobler  trend  appears  in  connection  with 
modern  thought.  This  tendency  is  toward  a  spiritual 
and  ethical  monism,  which  explains  all  things  from  the 
postulate  of  a  personal  God.  The  universe  is  to  be 
construed  in  terms  of  personal  spirit.  This  may  be 
termed  theistic  monism  or  monistic  theism,  which  gives 
a  place  alike  for  the  personality  of  the  infinite  and  for 
the  dependent  and  derived  reality  of  finite  things.  The 
reality  of  the  source  of  all  being  must  be  one,  and  that 
one  reality  is  the  personal  God.  From  Him,  in  some 
way,   all  things  come;  on   Him,  in    some  relation,   all 


CALVINISM   AND   MODERN   THOUGHT.  179 

things  depend ;  and  for  His  glory,  in  the  end,  all  things 
are. 

This  tendency  is  in  harmony  with  the  fundamental 
principles  of  generic  Calvinism.  According  to  this  sys- 
tem, God  is  the  one  source  of  all  finite  things.  From 
Him,  and  for  Him,  all  things  have  their  being  and 
meaning.  In  harmony  with  theistic  monism,  God  is 
the  only  source  of  all  being.  He  alone  is  independent 
and  self-existent.  His  omnipotent  agency  lies  at  the 
root  of  all  that  comes  to  pass  in  the  universe.  His  Mdll, 
guided  by  infinite  intelligence,  directed  according  to 
absolute  righteousness,  and  moved  by  boundless  love,  is 
the  supreme  fact  in  Calvinism.  This  may  be  regarded  as 
the  sovereignty  o-^  ^sq(\  in  the  sphere  of  philosophy. 

In  modern  phi.  .  t"'^  ^bought  thus  viewed  there  are 
at  least  three  particulars  m  which  Calvinism  is  in  accord 
with  it.  These  particulars  may  be  denoted  by  the  terms, 
unity,  immanence,  and  finality. 

It  is  evident  that  the  idea  of  imity  in  modern  philoso- 
phy has  its  counterpart  in  Calvinism.  If  modern 
thought  demands  a  unitary  and  rational  spiritual  prin- 
ciple to  explain  the  universe,  Calvinism  provides  this 
in  its  doctrine  of  God  and  His  decrees  or  eternal  pur- 
pose. Neither  materialism  nor  pantheism  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  philosophy  or  theology,  for  the  one  denies 
spirit  and  the  other  personality.  And  dualism  is  also 
defective,  for  it  announces  two  eternal  principles,  which 
entirely  oppose  and  exclude  each  other.  Of  all  types 
of  theology  Calvinism  best  meets  the  demand  of  modern 
thought  for  unity.  Calvinism,  therefore,  and  monistic 
theism  have  a  natural  affinity  with  each  other.  The  one 
gives  the  principle  of  unity  in  the  realm  of  philosophy, 
and  the  other  a  similar  principle  in  the  sphere  of  the- 
ology.   Both  agree  in  holding  to  the  absoluteness  of  this 


180  JOHN   CALVJN, 

unitary  postulate,  and  both  give  to  all  finite  things  their 
proper  dependent  reality. 

The  term  immanence  means  that  God's  relation  to  His 
works  is  inward  and  abiding,  and  not  merely  external. 
"In  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being."  Id 
this  way  theistic  monism  avoids  pantheism,  which  denies 
the  transcendence  of  God,  and  escapes  deism,  which  ig- 
nores His  immanence. 

This  aspect  of  modern  thought  also  finds  its  counter- 
part in  generic  Calvinism.  God  is  in  all  things,  and 
through  all  things,  and  over  all  things.  His  purpose 
and  his  power  are  constantly  expressed  in  the  progress 
and  processes  of  the  universe.  Thus  Calvinism  avoids 
the  abyss  of  pantheism  and  escapes  the  mechanism  of 
deism.  It  puts  God  into  such  relations  with  His  crea- 
tures that  He  may  fittingly  execute  His  decrees  in  the 
works  of  creation  and  providence.  Thus  there  is  no 
event  in  the  imi verse  wherein  God's  presence  and  po- 
tency, directly  or  indirectly  exercised,  are  not  to  be 
found. 

The  term  finality  denotes  end,  or  purpose,  or  design, 
or  goal ;  and  modern  thought  is  more  and  more  bringing 
out  the  view  that  the  universe  exists  for  a  purpose.  It 
is  not  a  chaos  of  separate,  independent  things,  but  a 
cosmos  of  related,  interdependent  things.  It  is  conse- 
quently rational  at  its  root,  and  intelligible,  and  thereby 
capable  of  being  construed  by  intelligence.  Only  on  this 
ground  is  science  itself  possible.  Even  Herbert  Spencer, 
with  his  idea  of  the  rhythmic  movement  of  the  uni- 
verse in  great  cycles,  is  an  unwilling  witness  to  this 
conclusion;  and  philosophic  evolution,  if  ever  clearly 
proved  to  be  true,  will  but  further  confirm  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  universe  is  moving  on  toward  some  distant 
and  lofty  goal. 


CALVINISM  AND   MODERN  THOUGHT.  181 

With  no  type  of  theology  does  this  profound  feature 
of  modern  thought  so  well  agree  as  with  the  Calvinistic. 
God's  eternal  purpose,  which  has  reference  to  His  glory, 
is  the  final  end  of  the  whole  cosmos,  and  His  compre- 
hensive plan  determines  the  history  of  the  entire  uni- 
verse. Immanence  provides  the  basis  for  the  attainment 
of  this  end,  in  the  execution  of  the  decrees. 

In  the  realm  of  philosophy  Calvinism  is  therefore  not 
out  of  date  but  quite  up  to  the  times. 

3.  In  the  Sphere  of  Science. — In  the  sphere  of  the 
physical  sciences,  modern  thought  has  made  some  of  its 
greatest  advances.  It  is  in  this  sphere,  too,  that  some 
of  the  sorest  assaults  of  recent  times  upon  the  Christian 
system  have  been  made.  Some  have  even  been  bold 
enough  to  assert  that  Christianity  in  general,  and  Cal- 
vinism in  particular,  have  met  their  "Waterloo  at  the 
hands  of  modern  science.  In  its  youthful  exuberance 
it  was  natural  that  certain  aspects  of  modern  science 
should  produce  this  conviction  in  hearts  not  really  in 
sympathy  with  the  Christian  system. 

But,  happily,  things  are  changing  now.  The  best 
types  of  modern  scientific  thought  are  steadily  taking 
positions  more  and  more  in  harmony  with  the  ChrivStian 
faith;  and  Christian  faith,  in  turn,  is  gradually  coming 
to  a  better  understanding  with  modern  science. 

It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  if  Calvinism  be  the 
truth  in  the  sphere  of  revealed  religion,  it  ^ahII  not  be 
found  out  of  harmony  with  the  assured  results  of  mod- 
ern science.  The  word  and  the  works  of  Cod  must  agree, 
if  rightly  understood  at  their  various  points  of  contact. 

In  all  that  modern  science  is  doing  to  show  the  preva- 
lence of  law  and  order,  of  unity  and  harmony  in  nature 
as  a  whole,  of  plan  and  end  in  the  cosmos,  it  is  con- 
firming much  that  ha^  already  been  said  under  the  head 


182  JOHN  CALVIN, 

of  modern  philosophy  and  Calvinism.  In  addition  to  all 
this,  there  are  certain  striking  features  in  modern  sci- 
ence which  deserve  special  consideration  in  this  discus- 
sion. These  are  found  largely  in  the  realm  of  biology, 
and  may  be  grouped  imder  three  terms — heredity,  selec- 
tion and  causation. 

Modern  scientific  thought  makes  much  of  heredity  in 
the  sphere  of  biology.  Heredity  consists  in  that  aspect 
of  living  organisms  by  means  of  which  certain  traits 
possessed  by  one  generation  are  transmitted  to  the  next. 
In  biology  this  principle  has  a  large  place,  and  it  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  laws  of  the  theory  of  descent,  or 
biological  evolution,  but  it  also  has  its  application  be- 
yond the  realm  of  biology,  in  the  mental  and  moral 
spheres.  Certain  traits  are  inherited,  or  transmitted 
from  sire  to  son. 

Now,  so  far  as  this  principle  is  established,  it  is  in 
perfect  harmony  with  one  of  the  profoimd  tenets  of  the 
Calvinistic  system.  Generic  Calvinism  has  always  firmly 
held  that  sin  is  a  malady  inherent  in  the  race.  It  is  in 
the  blood.  It  descends  from  sire  to  son  in  some  hered- 
itary way.  Explain  it  as  we  please,  the  whole  race  is 
implicated  in  the  fall  and  lies  imder  its  terrible  disabili- 
ties. 

Another  factor  in  modern  science  is  the  principle  of 
selection.  Based  on  variations  which  occur  in  organ- 
isms in  nature,  it  is  sometimes  called  natural  selection. 
This  principle  of  selection  in  biology  asserts  that  there 
seems  to  be  an  activity  operative  in  nature  which  makes 
a  choice,  out  of  the  many  changes  which  are  supposed 
to  happen  by  chance,  of  those  features  of  living  things 
which  are  suited  to  serve  their  best  interests,  and  to  pre- 
serve their  successive  generations  in  increasing  vigor 
from  age  to  age.     Here  we  have  nature'^  choice,  her 


CALVINISM   AND   MODERN   THOUGHT.  183 

election,  which  she  unconsciously  makes,  not  so  much  for 
the  welfare  of  the  individual  as  of  the  species  as  a  whole. 
Many  organisms  fall  by  the  way  in  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence, but  the  species  is  preserved  steadily. 

This,  again,  is  in  analogy  with  Calvin's  doctrine  of 
election.  If  we  hold  the  immanence  of  God  in  His 
works,  then  all  these  activities  of  selection  in  nature  are 
to  be  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  the  plan  and 
agency  of  God.  The  variations  upon  which  selection 
works  are  not  of  chance,  but  according  to  the  plan  of 
God;  and  selection,  in  so  far  as  it  is  true  in  nature,  is 
to  be  associated,  through  the  medium  of  second  causes, 
doubtless,  with  the  agency  of  God.  If,  therefore,  God's 
plan  and  activity  lie  back  of  variation  and  selection  in 
the  realm  of  nature,  may  the  same  not  be  true  in  other 
spheres  ?  If  of  the  many  variations  which  appear  in  or- 
ganisms some  are  selected  and  some  passed  by,  we  have 
what  may  be  called  the  Calvinism  of  nature.  Here  is  the 
selection  of  certain  traits,  not  so  much  for  their  owa 
sake  as  for  the  good  of  the  whole  species.  The  election 
of  individuals  among  men  for  certain  services,  the  se- 
lection of  nations  to  fulfill  some  high  function,  and  the 
choice  of  souls  in  Christ  unto  salvation  and  eternal  life, 
are  conceptions  with  which  modern  scientific  thought 
need  have  no  dispute.  Calvinism  will  be  found  to  be 
fully  abreast  of  that  thought,  so  far  as  it  is  sound  and 
true. 

The  third  feature  of  modern  scientific  thought  to  be 
considered  is  described  by  the  term  causation.  Modem 
science  is  more  and  more  making  it  plain  that  amid  all 
the  changes  which  take  place  in  nature  an  adequate 
cause  must  be  assumed.  The  facts  that  water  cannot 
rise  higher  than  its  level  and  that  all  life  must  come 
from  pre-existent  life,  are  familiar  examples  of  what 


184  JOHN  CALVIN. 

is  here  suggested.  In  all  analysis  and  synthesis  in  tlie 
chemical  laboratory  this  principle  of  causation  is  illus- 
trated. Some  agency  is  needed  to  effect  the  synthesis 
or  the  analysis  of  the  substances  under  experiment. 
Even  evolution  is  now  generally  held  to  be,  at  most, 
simply  a  process  or  a  method.    In  no  sense  is  it  a  cause. 

Here,  again,  we  have  an  echo  of  a  cardinal  factor  in 
generic  Calvinism.  Calviaism  has  ever  laid  stress  upon 
the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  divine  grace  in  the  salvation 
of  the  human  soul.  That  soul  is  spiritually  dead  by 
reason  of  sin's  fatal  infection.  In  order  to  work  a 
spiritual  and  saving  change  in  it,  a  cause  operating  from 
without,  yet  also  within  the  soul,  must  be  provided.  The 
soul  cannot  revolutionize  its  own  dispositions,  but  must 
be  revolutionized  by  some  suitable  cause  whose  fulcrum 
lies  without  the  soul.  This  cause  is  provided  in  the  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrine  of  efficacious  grace.  It  is  exercised  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  quickens  the  spiritually  dead  soul 
in,to  newness  of  life.  This  fully  meets  the  scientific  de- 
mand for  an  adequate  cause  operating  from  without 
that  which  is  to  be  changed.  The  principle  of  biogenesis 
in  biology  is  akin  to  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  in 
theology.  If  life  comes  only  from  antecedent  life  in 
nature,  so  life  comes  only  from  antecedent  life  in  the 
spiritual  sphere.  In  asserting  the  operation  of  effica- 
cious gl'ace  in  regeneration,  Calvinism  is  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  very  latest  aspects  of  scientific  thought. 

4.  In  the  Sphere  of  Sociology .—Thaorciic,  sociology 
makes  much  at  the  present  day  of  what  it  calls  the  soli- 
darity of  the  race.  By  this  it  means  that  the  members 
of  the  human  race  sustain  inherent  relations  with  each 
other.  Man  is  not  fully  understood  when  he  is  regarded 
merely  as  an  individual.  He  is  also  to  be  considered  in 
his  relations  with  the  other  members  of  the  social  or- 


CALVINISM   AND   MODERN   THOUGHT.  185 

ganism.  This  solidarity  is  twofold.  First,  the  succes- 
sive generations  of  men  are  linked  together  by  a  genetic 
bond,  of  which  heredity  is  an  important  factor.  Sec- 
ondly, the  men  of  any  given  generation  are  related  to 
each  other  by  various  social,  domestic,  civic  and  religious 
bonds. 

Now,  Calvinism,  more  than  any  other  system,  lays 
stress  upon  this  fact  in  the  sphere  of  theology.  In  its 
moral  relations  with  God  the  race  is  viewed  as  a  imity 
and  as  having  a  moral  solidarity.  Not  only  is  the  race 
bound  together  by  the  tie  of  one  blood ;  it  is  also  a  con- 
stitutive unity  imder  the  moral  government  of  God.  It 
matters  not  whether  we  hold  the  natural  or  federal  view 
of  the  "in-being"  of  the  race  in  Adam,  or  whether  we 
see  a  measure  of  truth  in  both  the  natural  and  federal 
aspects  of  the  unity  of  the  race  as  a  whole — all 
phases  of  generic  Calvinism  lay  stress  upon  the  moral 
solidarity  of  the  race.  The  race  as  a  whole  was  in  Adam 
in  some  sense.  Under  this  relation  the  whole  race  has 
gone  into  apostasy  from  God,  and  has  become  guilty 
before  Him,  as  well  as  depraved  in  its  moral  state. 

And  what  is  true  of  Adam  and  the  race  is  true  of 
Christ  and  His  people.  His  people  are  members  of  Plis 
body,  and  in  Him  they  have  a  spiritual  imity  of  which 
his  life  is  the  vital  bond.  He  and  they  are  one,  by  no 
merely  outward  bond  of  devoted  friendship,  but  by  an 
inward  spiritual  tie,  that  gives  what  may  be  termed  the 
spiritual  solidarity  of  the  body  of  Christ,  the  Bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife.  This  mystical  union  is  emphasized  in  Rom. 
6.  It  can  be  very  fairly  asserted  that  no  other  type  of 
theology  does  such  justice  to  these  fundamental  ideas 
as  Calvinism. 

A  second  principle  in  modern  sociology  is  that  of 
representation,  with  which  substitution  is  also  associated. 


186  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Modern  sociology  has  done  much  to  show,  in  the  various 
stages  of  social  development,  that  the  head  of  the  family, 
the  clan,  the  tribe,  or  the  nation,  stands  in  a  representa- 
tive relation  toward  those  under  him  and  dependent  on 
him.  Many  primitive  institutions,  as  the  totem  and  the 
blood  bond  of  the  tribe,  exhibit  this  fact.  And  the  whole 
scheme  of  free  representative  government  in  the  State  im- 
plies the  principle  of  representation  on  a  large  scale. 

That  the  fact  of  substitution  is  also  implied  in  repre- 
sentation is  evidence.  The  welfare  of  those  represented 
in  the  family,  tribe,  or  clan,  may  require  certain  sacri- 
fices on  the  part  of  those  who  stand  as  their  representa- 
tives. The  head  of  the  family,  clan,  or  tribe,  acts  in  the 
place  of  those  of  whom  he  is  the  head;  and  for  their 
sake  he  may  have  to  endure  hardship  and  suffering. 
And,  in  addition,  whatever  advantage  is  thereby  secured 
by  the  head  is  enjoyed  by  the  whole  constituency  which 
the  head  represents  and  acts  for.  So,  too,  any  misfor- 
tune which  may  come  through  the  folly  or  failure  of  the 
head  to  fulfill  his  trust,  is  entailed  on  those  for  whom 
he  acts.  Modern  sociology  is  more  and  more  bringing 
this  principle  of  representation  into  view. 

This  represents  one  of  the  most  profound  and  severely 
criticised  factors  in  the  Calvinistic  system.  This  system 
holds  that  Adam  sustained  federal  relations  to  the  race, 
and  that  he  represented  it  under  God's  moral  govern- 
ment. Its  teaching  is  that  Adam  represented  the  race  of 
mankind,  and  that  in  some  way  or  other  the  race  sinned 
in  him  and  fell  with  him  in  his  first  transgression.  Cal- 
vinism also  teaches  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head  and 
representative  of  his  people,  given  to  him  by  the  Father 
to  be  redeemed.  As  their  representative  he  stood  in  their 
place,  and  for  their  sake  he  offered  himself  as  a  sacrifice 
for  their  sins.      Federal   representation   and   vicarious 


CALVINISM   AND   MODERN   THOUGHT.  187 

atonement  are  the  related  teachings  of  Calvinism  at  this 
point.  Those  types  of  modern  theology  which  ignore 
these  principles  entirely  are  in  danger  of  being  declared 
obsolete  by  the  most  recent  conclusions  of  modern  soci- 
ology. 

Another  principle  which  modern  sociology  brings  to 
light  is  the  interdependence  of  the  human  race,  implied 
in  the  facts  of  solidarity  and  representation.  If  the  in- 
dividuals of  the  race  are  all  boimd  together  as  a  social 
imity,  then  each  member  sustains  such  relations  to  those 
about  it  as  to  form  the  basis  of  certain  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities. These  emerge  in  many  ways.  We  see 
them  in  the  family,  in  the  clan,  in  the  tribe,  and  in  the 
nation.  It  is  true  in  this  regard  that  no  man  lives  unto 
himself  or  dies  imto  himself.  There  is  an  altruism,  or 
concern  for  the  welfare  of  those  about  us,  which  modern 
sociology  properly  adduces  as  the  basis  of  its  various 
philanthropies. 

(  This,  once  more,  is  a  thought  to  which  Calvinism  is 
not  a  stranger.  The  lofty  ideas  of  home  life,  flowing  out 
of  the  domestic  relations,  and  parental  care,  and  filial 
regard,  which  Calvinism  teaches,  have  their  natural  ex- 
planation in  this  connection.  The  theory  of  national  life 
and  economic  relations  which  Calvinism  teaches  exalts 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  that  rest  upon  all  the  in- 
dividuals which  make  up  the  body  politic.  The  ideal 
State,  from  the  standpoint  of  Calvinism,  is  found  where 
every  unit  in  it,  in  all  its  relations,  is  actuated  by  a  holy 
altruism  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  other  members  of 
the  community.  The  State  is  God's  ordinance  for  cer- 
tain definite  ends,  and  Calvinism  holds  a  doctrine  of 
civil  government  and  social  relations  which  makes  it  the 
defender  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  wherever  its  in- 
fluence is  rightfully  exerted.    Calvinists,  if  true  to  their 


188  JOHN  CALVIN. 

own  system,  can  be  neither  tyrants  nor  slaves.  They 
will  claim  their  own  rights,  and  at  the  same  time  regard 
the  rights  of  others.  It  balances  egoism  and  altruism 
aright. 

This  inadequate  discussion  of  a  great  subject  has 
shown  that  doctrinal  and  scientific  Calvinism  is  neither 
dead  nor  dying,  but  is  very  much  alive  in  the  realms  of 
theory  and  practice. 


CHAPTER    XXVII  I. 

CALVIN'S    INFLUENCE    ON    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND 
HOLLAND. 

Calvin's  influence,  as  has  been  shown,  was  not  eon- 
fined  to  Geneva;  it  soon  became  world-wide.  His  sys- 
tem was  accepted  by  millions,  not  only  in  Switzerland 
and  France,  but  also  in  Italy,  Poland,  Bohemia,  and 
Hungary.  The  deepest  and  most  lasting  impression  of 
Calvin,  however,  was  not  exerted  on  his  own  race,  but 
on  the  widely  extended  family  of  nations  belonging  to 
the  Teutonic  and  Celtic  races — -Germany,  Holland,  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland,  German  Switzerland,  South 
Africa  and  North  America.  In  the  sturdy  manhood  and 
the  serious  character  of  these  peoples  the  vigorous  system 
of  Calvin  found  a  more  congenial  soil  than  among  the 
emotional  and  somewhat  fickle  nations  of  the  Latin  and 
Slavic  races.  And  in  this,  history  has  repeated  itself. 
The  Gospel  itself,  rejected  by  the  nations  where  it 
was  first  preached,  found  its  strongest  lodgment  among 
the  Teutons  (embracing  Germany,  Great  Britain,  Hol- 
land, Scandinavia,  Switzerland,  and  America)  ;  so  also 
when  the  house  of  Romish  bondage  was  opened  by  the 
Reformation  the  Teutonic  race  marched  out  while  the 
Latin  and  the  Slavic  races  kissed  the  chains  with  which 
they  were  held  slaves. 

In  England,  Lutheranism  was  early  superceded  by 
the  Reformed  faith.  In  a  letter  to  Parel,  in  1539,  Calvin 
for  the  first  time  speaks  of  the  English  Reformation. 
Henry  VIII  methods  did  not  please  him.  He  writes: 
•'The  king  is  only  half  wise.  He  prohibits  marriages 
of  priests,  retains  the  mass,  and  the  seven  sacraments 

189 


190  JOHN  CALVIN. 

and  forbids  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  in  the  language 
of  the  people."  When  Henry's  10-year-old  son,  Ed- 
ward VI,  became  king,  Calvin  exercised  a  more  direct 
influence  on  England.  The  Duke  of  Somerset  became 
Protector  of  England,  and  he  had  the  young  king 
brought  up  in  the  Protestant  faith.  An  extended  cor- 
respondence between  Calvin,  Somerset,  Cranmer  and 
the  king  ensued.  In  1548,  he  dedicated  to  Somerset  his 
commentary  on  First  Timothy,  and  later,  in  a  remark- 
able letter,  he  sent  him  a  plan  for  a  real  reformation 
of  England.  The  scheme  pleased  the  Protector  and  most 
of  its  suggestions  were  adopted.  We  find  a  brief  letter 
to  Farel  in  one  of  his  collections  in  which  he  alludes  to 
the  pleasure  which  Somerset  took  in  his  plan.  "The 
English  messenger  has  at  last  returned.  He  has  brought 
a  letter  from  the  Regent,  in  which  he  expresses  himself 
thankful  for  my  services.  His  wife  sent  me  a  present 
of  a  ring,  not  of  great  value,  not  being  worth  more  than 
four  crown  .pieces.  The  members  of  his  family  lead  me 
to  expect  a  tolerably  liberal  present  from  him,  in  a  short 
time,  which  I  neither  desire  nor  long  for.  For  what  has, 
as  I  hear,  given  a  keener  stimulus  to  him,  is  a  sufficiently 
ample  reward  for  me."  Learned  Reformed  theologians 
were  called  as  professors  to  England :  Bucer  and  Fagins, 
from  Strasburg,  lectured  at  Cambridge,  and  Peter  Mar- 
tyn,  at  Oxford.  During  Elizabeth's  reign,  Calvin's  the- 
ological influence  was  supreme.  Although  the  Queen 
had  no  special  liking  for  Calvin,  the  reformer  dedicated 
to  her  some  of  his  commentaries.  His  "Institutes"  was 
recommended  by  a  convocation  held  at  Oxford  to  the 
general  stud}^  of  the  English  nation,  and  continued  do\^^l 
to  the  time  of  Archbishop  Laud  the  text-book  in  the 
English  universities.  The  pope  made  it  one  of  his 
charges  against  Queen  Elizabeth  that  "the  impious  book 


Calvin's  influence.  191 

of  Calvin  was  enjoined  upon  her  subjects."  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  official  Creed,  the  39  Articles  of  1563  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  shows  the  influence  of  Calvin, 
while  the  nine  Lambeth  Articles  of  1595  and  the  Irish 
Articles  of  Archbishop  Usher  of  1615  are  very  strongly 
Calvinistic.  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  clearly  shows 
dependence  on  the  liturgies  in  use  at  Strasburg  and  in 
other  Reformed  Churches.  Even  as  late  as  1618,  in  the 
reign  of  James  I,  an  English  bishop  and  several  Epis- 
copal clergj'men  sat  as  regular  delegates  from  England 
in  the  Reformed  Synod  of  Dor,  with  a  presbyter  for  its 
moderator.  It  was  about  this  time,  however,  that  Ar- 
minianisra  began  to  spread  in  England,  and  after  the 
three-cornered  contest  on  church  government,  Episcopa- 
lianism  became  more  exclusive.  Officially,  however,  the 
Church  of  England  and  her  daughter,  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  America,  are  still  Reformed  and  the 
crown  oath  of  the  English  king  contains  to  this  day  the 
pledge  ''to  protect  and  defend  the  Reformed  religion." 

Still  greater  and  more  lasting  was  Calvin's  influence 
on  Scotland,  exerted  mainly  through  John  Knox,  a  man 
whose  unbending  opposition  to  Romanism  and  prelacy 
compels  admiration.  He  was  the  incarnation  of  the 
democratic  spirit  of  Calvinism — a  fearless,  out-spoken 
man  who  could  always  be  depended  on  for  doing  what 
no  one  else  dared.  At  his  grave  a  nobleman  could  trulj' 
say,  "Here  lies  the  man  who  never  feared  the  face 
of  man."  In  many  ways,  Knox  was  more  Calvinistic 
than  Calvin  and  the  latter  found  occasion  to  counsel 
moderation.  For  this  reason  many  distinctive  traits  of 
Calvinism  impressed  themselves  more  deeply  upon  the 
people  of  Scotland  than  even  on  the  Church  at  Geneva. 

When  the  Bloody  Mary  ascended  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, Knox  fled  to  the  continent.     Here  he  spent  the 


192  JOHN  CALVIN. 

five  years  of  his  exile,  1554-1558,  mostly  at  Geneva  with 
Calvin,  In  1555,  Calvin  asks  the  city  council  to  allow 
the  refugees  from  England  the  use  of  one  of  the  churches. 
"Formerly,"  say  the  minutes,  "the  said  English  have 
received  other  nations  and  have  given  them  a  church; 
but  now  it  has  pleased  God  to  afflict  them. ' '  The  Church 
of  the  Auditoire,  already  used  by  the  Italians,  was 
opened  to  them.  The  building  still  stands  and  bears 
an  inscription  to  the  effect  that  in  this  church  Jolm 
Knox  had  preached  to  the  English  refugees. 

Calvin  treated  Knox  with  exceptional  kindness. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  strong  affinity  between  the 
two  characters.  Their  friendship  was  one  of  the  most 
intimate  on  record  between  great  men.  Although  five 
years  older,  Knox  venerated  Calvin  as  a  father  and 
looked  to  him  for  guidance  and  counsel.  Although  fifty 
years  of  age,  he  devoted  himself  to  study  under  Calvin 
with  the  ardor  of  a  youth.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  Knox,  with  some  friends,  planned  a  new  English 
translation  of  the  Bible,  knoAvn  as  the  ' '  Geneva  Bible. ' ' 

But  Knox  was  greatly  needed  in  Scotland.  The  nobles 
had  united  for  the  defence  of  the  Reformed  religion,  and 
they  wrote  to  Calvin,  requesting  him  to  use  his  influ- 
ence with  Knox  to  come  to  their  aid.  Knox  obeyed  the 
call  of  the  Protestant  lords,  and  became  the  leading 
spirit  of  the  Scotch  reformation.  In  1560,  parliament 
abolished  the  papacy.  A  confession  of  faith,  "the  book  of 
discipline"  and  a  liturgy  were  drawn  up.  The  first  was 
sent  to  Calvin  for  examination,  and  all  three  ratified 
by  parliament.  Calvin's  Catechism  and  later  also  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  were  translated  to  be  used  for 
the  instruction  of  the  youth.  "The  General  Assembly  of 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Scotland"  met  for  the  first 
time  in  1560.    Later,  when  the  Reformed  forces  in  Great 


Calvin's  influence.  193 

Britain  divided  on  the  question  of  church  government 
the  Scotch  Calvinists  adopted  the  name  of  "Presby- 
terian," expressive  of  their  polity.  The  work  had  been 
rapidly  done.  Barely  a  year  had  elapsed  between  the 
return  of  Knox  from  Geneva  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Reformed  religion.  On  Nov.  8,  1559,  Calvin  wrote 
from  Geneva:  "As  we  wonder  at  success  incredible  in  so 
short  a  time,  so  also  we  give  great  thanks  to  God,  whose 
special  blessing  here  shines  forth." 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  Scotch  Presbyterianism 
and  English  Puritanism  produced  the  principles  of  Cal- 
vinism in  a  more  radical  manner  in  what  is  Imo^vn  as 
the  Westminster  Standards  of  1647. 

Another  country,  "Little  Holland,"  the  real  cradle 
of  liberty,  received  through  Calvin  the  elements  of  her 
greatness.  In  1562  the  Belgic  Confession,  a  strictly 
Calvinistic  creed,  was  adopted,  and  in  spite  of  the  most 
terrible  persecutions,  the  Dutch  people  remained  true  to 
the  Reformed  faith,  and  in  1619,  the  first  ecumenical 
council  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  the  Synod  of  Dor, 
was  held  and  in  its  deliverances  that  famous  body  gave 
renewed  and  definite  expression  to  the  Reformed  faith. 


CHAPTER     XXIX. 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    CALVIN    ON    SWITZERLAND 
AND  GERMANY. 

By  Rev.  J.  I.  Good,  D.D. 

Professor  in  the  Central  Theological  Seminary,  Dayton,  U. 

John  Calvin  powerfully  influenced  all  the  countries 
that  received  the  Reformed  faith.  Switzerland  is  the 
center  of  Europe  geographically.  From  her  Alps  radi- 
ate in  all  directions,  north,  south,  east  and  west,  the 
rivers  of  Europe  beautifying  and  fertilizing  that  con- 
tinent. So  from  Switzerland  the  Reformed  doctrines 
of  Calvin,  like  life-giving  waters  spread  in  all  directions 
over  Europe.  They  were  carired  east  to  Hungary,  Bo- 
hemia and  Poland ;  south,  though  but  for  a  brief  season, 
to  Italy,  west  to  France  and  north  to  Germany  and 
Holland,  even  leaping  the  seas  to  England  and  Scot- 
land. 

We  are  to  speak  especially  of  two  of  these  countries, 
Switzerland  and  German}^  Calvin  may  be  said  to  have 
had  an  influence  in  three  ways:  mainly  on  their  doc- 
trines, their  morals  and  their  politics.  As  to  Switzer- 
land, of  course  Calvin,  as  a  citizen  of  Switzerland 
greatly  affected  his  own  country,  for  there  is  a  peculiar 
solidarity  among  the  Swiss  bred  of  their  mountains  and 
their  freedom. 

His  doctrines  rapidly  spread  through  Switzerland. 
Northern  Switzerland,  which  was  German  and  not 
French  like  Geneva,  had  already  received  the  doctrines 
of  the  reformation  from  Zwingli  and  Oecolampadius  be- 
fore French  Switzerland  ever  was  touched  by  them. 
The  first  problem  in  Calvin's  time  was  to  unite  the  two 

194 


Calvin's  influence.  195 

parts  of  Switzerland,  the  Germans  in  the  north  and 
the  French  in  the  south.  There  were  some  differences 
between  them.  On  the  Lord's  Supper  the  theologians 
of  Zurich  were  considered  somewhat  lower  than  Calvin. 
They  inclined  more  toward  the  memorial  view  while 
Calvin  emphasized  the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ  at 
the  supper.  They  differed  in  church  government.  Ger- 
man Switzerland  held  to  a  close  union  of  the  church 
with  the  state,  so  that  the  state  would  punish  offenders 
in  the  church  by  a  civil  act  as  fine  and  imprisonment. 
Calvin  separated  them  more,  emphasizing  the  right  of 
the  church  to  exercise  ex-communication  over  its  own 
members.  Also  on  predestination  they  differed;  the 
Germans  being  lower  and  holding  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
universal  atonement,  while  Calvin  held  that  Christ  died 
for  the  elect.  The  Lutherans  in  Germany  seeing  these 
differences  in  Switzerland,  were  hoping  to  gain  the  fol- 
lowers of  Calvin ;  or  at  least  to  so  divide  the  Protestants 
of  Switzerland  as  to  further  weaken  them  against  Lu- 
theranism.  And  in  the  German  cantons  of  Berne  and 
Basle  for  a  time  they  gained  control.  But  all  these  dif- 
ferences between  German  and  French  Switzerland  were 
harmonized  and  Calvin's  doctrines  gained  the  victory, 
when,  after  some  negotiations  with  Bullinger  the  head 
leader  of  German  Switzerland,  they  agreed,  in  1549, 
on  a  new  creed  about  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Tigurine 
confession,  in  which  Calvin's  views  were  accepted  on 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  also  on  the  restriction  of  its 
benefits  to  the  elect.  This  new  creed  made  Switzerland 
a  unit  on  the  Reformed  faith. 

Nor  did  the  influence  of  Calvin  stop  here.  The  lower 
form  of  Reformed  doctrines  in  regard  to  predestination 
held  by  Bullinger  gradually  gave  way  to  Calvin 's  higher 
views.     Even  at  Zurich,  Berne  and  Basle  by  the  latter 


196  JOHN  CALVIN. 

part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  leaders  of  the  church 
as  Stueki  at  Zurich  and  Gryneus  of  Basle  held  to  the 
higher  Calvinism.  This  reign  of  Calvinism  continued 
until  in  1675  Switzerland  had  become  so  high  in  its 
Calvinism  that,  over  against  the  lower  form  of  Calvinism 
held  by  the  theological  school  of  Saumur  in  France,  they 
drew  up  a  new  creed  the  Helvetic  Consensus,  the  highest 
of  the  Calvinistic  Creeds  in  existence.  And  it  was 
adopted  by  all  the  cantons.  This  reveals  Calvin's  doc- 
trines regnant  in  Switzerland  as  in  hardly  any  other 
land.  A  reaction  came  about  1720  through  the  influ- 
ence of  foreign  rulers  and  churches  and  Basle,  Neuchatel 
and  Geneva  gave  up  subscription  to  that  creed.  But 
Zurich  and  Berne  clung  to  their  strict  Calvinism  for  a 
considerable  time  longer  and  resented  the  interference 
of  foreign  powers  as  an  impertinent  interference  in 
things  that  belonged  only  to  the  Swiss.  After  that  time, 
due  to  the  rationalism  and  the  liberalizing  theology  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  Calvinism  as  a  system  has  pretty 
well  passed  away  in  Switzerland  although  an  attempt 
was  made  to  revive  the  old  Calvinism  of  the  Second 
Helvetic  Confession  when  the  theological  seminary  was 
founded  at  Geneva  about  1830  by  Gaussen,  D'Aubigne 
and  Malan. 

On  morals,  as  well  as  theology,  Calvin's  views  greatly 
influenced  Switzerland,  his  severe  moral  code  which  made 
Geneva  the  model  city  of  Europe,  was  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  followed  in  Switzerland.  The  Swiss  lived  simple 
lives,  untouched  by  the  luxuries  and  vices  of  the  larger 
cities  and  other  lands  as  France.  So  that  when  Vol- 
taire attempted,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury to  introduce  a  theatre  at  Geneva,  it  was  forbidden 
and  he  was  compelled  to  open  it  at  Ferney,  over  the 
French  border.     The  Swiss  people  retained  their  sim- 


Calvin's  influence,  197 

plicity  of  life  and  the  higher  morality  bred  of  the  Alps 
and  were  guided  by  Calvin's  ethics  until  the  time  of  the 
French  revolution. 

The  influence  of  Calvin  for  politics  was  in  the  direc- 
tion of  liberty.     It  is  very  remarkable  that  his  views 
which  made  the  predestination  of  God  prominent,  should 
lead  to  the  greatest  freewill  of  man  in  republicanism  and 
democracy.     But  the  magnifying  of  God  leads  to  the  4: 
magnifying   of  man.     Here   Calvin    did   not   influence 
Switzerland  as  nmch  for  liberty  as  he  did  other  lands  i 
as  Holland,  England  and  the  United  States  which  have  . 
been  said  to  have  been  born  out  of  Calvinism;  Switzer- 
land gained  no  greater  freedom  by  Calvin  than  she  had 
had  before  except  freedom  from  the  pope ;  Geneva  did 
not  have  either  civil  or  religious  liberty  under  Calvin  nor 
did  she  get  them  until  about  1830.     But  he  set  at  work 
influences  toward  them  that  reached  far  beyond  his  own 
views  or  his  own  age. 

The  influence  of  Calvin  on  Germany  was  also  great 
although  not  so  predominately  great  as  in  Switzerland, 
for  Luther  and  Lutheranism  had  already  become  the 
great  religious  force  in  Germany.  Still  the  influence  of 
the  Reformed  church  was  very  considerable.  And  of  the 
Reformed  reformers,  none  exerted  greater  influence  than 
Calvin.  Already  before  his  time,  Zwingli  had,  by  his 
visit  to  Marburg  to  the  Marburg  conference  (1529), 
exerted  a  considerable  influence  for  the  Reformed. 
Later  Calvin,  while  pastor  at  Strasburg  in  Germany 
(1538-41),  exerted  considerable  influence,  both  in  that 
city  and  at  the  political  conferences  as  at  Ratisbon.  <^  He 
there  formed  a  strong  friendship  for  Melancthon  and 
influenced  the  reformers  of  Strasburg,  Bueer  and 
Capito.  In  1556  he  made  another  visit  to  Germany  to 
intercede  with  the  Lutheran  authorities  of  Frankford 


198  JOHN   CALVIN. 

for  the  Reformed  refugees  who  had  found  an  asylum 
there,  but  his  visit  had  little  result.  But  the  real  foun- 
dations of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany  were  not 
laid  until  a  year  or  two  before  Calvin's  death,  when  Hei- 
delberg with  its  ruler  Elector  Frederick  III  became  Re- 
formed. Calvin,  however,  by  correspondence  Avith  the 
reformers  to  Germany  as  with  Hedio,  Sturm,  Sleidanus 
at  Strasburg  and  Frederick  III  and  Olevianus  at  Hei- 
delberg and  Landgrave  Philip  of  flesse  exerted  con- 
siderable influence.  But  Calvin's  chief  influence  on 
Germany  came  after  his  death  as  his  doctrines  more  and 
more  permeated  the  Reformed  Church  of  Germany. 
Some  of  her  early  ministers,  as  Peucer  and  Pezel,  were 
at  first  Melancthonians  as  they  passed  from  the  Lutheran 
faith  over  to  the  Reformed.  But  Pezel,  who  came  to 
Nassau  as  a  Melancthonian  (1577)  soon  became  a  strong 
Calvinist,  so  that  by  1595  he  wrote  the  strongly  Cal- 
vinistic  creed  of  Bremen.  Calvin's  influence,  too,  was 
great  on  ojir  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The  first  catechism 
of  Ursinus,  from  which  so  much  of  the  Heidelberg  was 
drawn,  was  based  mainly  on  Calvin's  Catechism  and  In- 
stitutes. In  doctrine  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  Cal- 
vinistic.  It  is  so  over  against  Melancthon's  Synergism 
(Answers  5  and  8),  against  his  lower  views  about  rites 
(Answers  96-8).  It  is  positively  Calvinistic,  teaching 
predestination  (Answers  26  and  31),  the  perseverance 
of  the  saints  (Answers  1,  31,  51  and  54),  Calvin's  views 
of  the  descent  into  hell  (Answer  44)  and  of  the  power 
of  the  keys  (Answer  85).  In  its  numbering  of  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  of  the  petitions  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  it  follows  Calvin. 

It  has  been  said,  as  by  Dr.  Schaff,  that  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Germany  w^as  different  from  the  other  Re- 
formed churches  by  being  Melancthonian  rather  than 


Calvin's  influence.  199 

Calvinistic.  But  this  is  not  true  according  to  history. 
Calvin  and  Melancthon  were  world-wide  apart  on  the 
doctrine  of  predestination,  Melancthon  holding  to  syner- 
gism, Calvin  to  election.  Neither  did  they  agree  in 
eultus.  Melancthon  regarded  many  religious  rites  that 
came  over  from  the  Romish  church  with  indifference, 
while  Calvin  would  have  none  that  were  not  in  the  Bible. 
This  difference  is  strikingly  brought  out  in  the  Leipsic 
Interim,  where  Melancthon  granted  that  Catholic  cere- 
monies as  extreme  unction,  fasts,  Corpus  Christi,  etc., 
should  be  restored  in  the  Protestant  church.  Calvin 
would  never  have  granted  this.  Indeed,  at  the  diet  of 
Ratisbon,  Calvin  found  fault  with  Melancthon 's  views 
on  eultus.  But  it  is  claimed  that  Melancthon  and  Cal- 
vin were  in  agreement  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  It  is  true  that  Melancthon  was  more  inclined 
toward  the  Reformed  doctrine  than  Luther,  and  Calvin 
more  inclined  toward  the  Lutheran  doctrine  than 
Zwingli ;  but  that  does  not  mean  that  they  were  in  agree- 
ment on  the  subject.  Melancthon  continually  speaks 
of  the  presence  of  Christ's  body  ("adest"  is  the  Latin 
word  he  continually  uses)  at  the  Supper.  Jacoby  says 
he  differed  from  Luther  not  in  placing  Christ's  body  as 
absent  from  the  Supper.  But  while  Luther  made  this 
presence  of  Christ's  body  during  the  whole  transaction 
of  the  Supper  especially  through  the  Word,  Melancthon 
made  his  body  present  especially  at  the  act  of  the  com- 
municant when  he  received  the  elements.  Again,  Luther 
insisted  on  the  presence  of  Christ's  body  "m,  with  and 
under,"  Melancthon  only  on  "with,"  according  to  Rev. 
Prof.  J.  W.  Richard,  Melancthon 's  biographer.  But 
although  Melancthon  thus  differed  from  Luther,  still  his 
view  was  Lutheran  and  not  Reformed  and  differed  con- 
siderably from  Calvin's  view  of  Christ's  presence.    Thus 


200  JOHN  CALVIN. 

Melanethon  insists  constantly  on  the  presence  of  Christ's 
body  with  the  elements.  This  is  quite  different  from 
Calvin's  view  that  Christ's  body  was  up  in  heaven  and 
not  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  Christ's  body  was  present 
according  to  Melanethon,  absent  according  to  Calvin. 
Calvin  held  that  by  faith  we  were  to  be  lifted  up  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  heaven,  so  as  to  commune  with  Christ 
there.  Melanethon  knew  nothing  of  Calvin's  peculiar 
views  of  the  vivific  force  of  Christ's  body  in  heaven 
streaming  to  earth  like  the  rays  of  the  sun.  As  Prof. 
J.  W.  Richard,  in  his  Life  of  Melanethon  (page  365). 
says:  ''There  is  not  a  single  line  in  all  Melanethon 's 
writings  to  show  that  he  ever  endorsed  the  particular 
Calvinistic  formulas  of  a  glorified  body  and  of  a  com- 
munion in  heaven  to  which  the  believer  is  lifted  by  faith. 
On  the  contrary,  his  formulas  show  that  he  maintained 
that  the  commimion  takes  place  on  earth  in  connection 
with  the  eating  and  drinking.  Moreover  he  ever  associates 
the  Supper  with  the  forgiveness  of  sins  as  its  essential 
factor,  while  with  Calvin,  the  Supper  is  regarded  more 
as  a  food  for  the  soul  of  the  believer."  No,  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  Germany  is  not  Melancthonian-Cal- 
vinistic  but  Calvinistic.  This  is  proved  by  the  position 
taken  by  her  universities  and  their  professors,  by  her 
creeds  and  by  the  testimony  of  church  historians, 
(See  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany  by 
Rev.  J.  I.  Good,  pages  589-623).  The  universities  of 
Germany  and  their  professors  soon  became  thoroughly 
Calvinistic  (Scultetus  at  Heidelberg  was  a  supralap- 
sarian).  Although  a  few  of  them  held  to  a  lower  form 
of  Calvinism,  as  Bergius  and  Martinius,  yet  that  was 
far  from  Melancthonianism.  Perhaps  the  most  signifi- 
cant facts  come  from  the  two  conferences,  that  the  Re- 
formed held  with  the  Lutherans  at  Leipsic  in  1631,  and 


Calvin's  influence.  201 

Cassel  in  1661,  whose  decisions  have  a  semi-credal  au- 
thority for  the  Reformed  of  Germany.  At  both  of  them, 
the  Reformed  took  firm  ground  for  predestination  and 
reprobation.  We  have  just  gotten  hold  of  a  book  that 
shows  how  thoroughly  Calvinism  was  introduced  in  the 
Palatinate  almost  as  soon  as  it  became  Reformed.  It 
is  the  Institutes  of  Calvin,  published  at  Heidelberg  in 
1572  in  German,  issued  with  the  approval  of  the  Re- 
formed professors  there,  and  to  it  is  appended  Calvin's 
Catechism  and  Liturgy.  All  this  shows  how  rapidly  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Germany  became  quite  thoroughly 
imbued  with  Calvin's  doctrines.  Calvinism  became  more 
liberal  and  through  the  influence  of  rationalism  became 
lower,  until,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  much  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  was  imited  with  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  Germany.  But  there  is  still  a  considerable  element 
that  clings  to  the  old  Calvinism  of  Calvin.  In  morals, 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Germany  was  somewhat  af- 
fected by  Calvin's  ethics  as  they  were  somewhat  stricter 
than  the  Lutherans.  And  politically,  while  liberty  has 
also  gained  much  headway  in  Germany,  yet  as  one  of  the 
late  Reformed  ^vriters,  Zahn,  puts  it  in  his  book  ''The 
Influence  of  the  Reformed  Church  on  the  Greatness  of 
Prussia,"  that  land  owes  much  of  her  prominence  by 
which  she  now  stands  at  the  head  of  the  states  of  Ger- 
many to  the  fact  that  her  rulers  were  Reformed  and  were 
affected  by  Reformed  principles  and  associations. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

CALVINISM  IN  AMERICA. 

By  Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Politically,  Calvinism  is  the  chief  source  of  modern 
republican  government.  That  Calvinism  and  republi- 
canism are  related  to  each  other  as  cause  and  effect  is 
acknowledged  by  authorities  who  are  not  Presbyterians 
or  Reformed.  Isaac  Taylor  calls  republicanism  the 
Presbyterian  principle.  Bishop  Horsley  declares  that 
"Calvin  was  unquestionably  in  theory  a  Republican," 
and  adds  that  "so  wedded  was  he  to  this  notion,  that  he 
endeavored  to  fashion  the  government  of  all  the  Protest- 
ant Churches  upon  republican  principles. ' '  This  thought 
is  still  further  carried  forward  by  Bancroft  when  he 
speaks  of  "the  political  character  of  Calvinism,  which 
with  one  consent  and  with  instinctive  judgment  the  mon- 
archs  of  that  day  feared  as  republicanism."  Emilio 
Castelar,  the  leader  of  the  Spanish  liberals,  says  that 
"Anglo-Saxon  democracy  is  the  product  of  a  severe  the- 
ology, learned  in  the  cities  of  Holland  and  Switzerland." 
Leopold  Von  Ranke,  the  German  historian,  gives  his 
weighty  judgment  in  the  words,  "John  Calvin  was  the 
virtual  fomider  of  America."  James  Anthony  Froude, 
the  English  historian,  bears  witness  to  the  character  of 
the  political  progress  of  the  last  three  centuries  in  the 
sentence,  "nearly  all  the  chief  benefactors  of  the  modern 
world  have  been  Calvinists."  Lord  Macaulay  writes 
that  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  inherited 
the  republican  opinions  of  Knox,  and  also  states  that  the 

202 


CALVINISM   IN  AMERICA.  203 

Ijoiig  Parliament,  which  was  controlled  by  Presbyterians, 
''is  justly  entitled  to  the  reverence  and  gratitude  of  all 
in  every  part  of  the  world  who  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
constitutional  freedom. ' '  The  Long  Parliament  was  the 
body  which  gave  existence  to  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
and  ]\Iacanlay's  testimony  therefore  points  to  the  inti- 
mate connection  between  Calvinistic  doctrine  and  con- 
stitutional government.  These  extracts  from  the  writ- 
ings of  men  who  were  not  themselves  Presbyterians,  in- 
dicate clearly  the  political  influence  of  the  doctrinal 
ideas  contained  in  the  Westminster  Standards. 

The  Westminster  Standards  were  the  common  doc- 
trinal standards  of  all  the  Calvinists  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  the  countries  which  have  given  to  the 
United  States  its  language  and  to  a  considerable  degree 
its  laws.  The  English  Calvinists,  commonly  known  as 
Puritans,  early  found  a  home  on  American  shores,  and 
the  Scotch,  Dutch,  Scotch-Irish,  French  and  German 
settlers,  who  were  of  the  Protestant  faith,  were  their 
natural  allies.  It  is  important  to  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  influence  of  Westminster  in  American  Colonial 
history  to  know  that  the  majority  of  the  early  settlers  of 
this  country  from  Massachusetts  to  New  Jersey  in- 
clusive, and  also  in  parts  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
the  Carolinas,  were  Calvinists.  They  brought  with  them 
to  this  land  those  doctrinal  ideas  which  exalt,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  human  mind,  the  sovereignty  of  God,  which 
bring  all  lives  and  institutions  to  the  test  of  the  Holy 
Scripture,  which  teach  that  the  divine  being  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons,  and  which  lead  logically  to  the  con- 
clusion that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal.  Further, 
the  early  British  settlers,  whether  Presbyterians  or  Puri- 
tans, were  all  believers  in  the  Westminster  Confession. 
The  Congregationalists  of  New  England  adopted  it  for 


204  JOHN   C.VLVIN. 

doctrine  in  1648,  one  year  after  its  completion  at  Lon- 
don; the  Baptists  also  adopted  it  in  1677,  except  as  to 
Baptist  peculiarities;  the  Presbyterians  always  main- 
tained it  vigorously  for  both  doctrine  and  government; 
and  the  Reformed  Dutch  were  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
Presbyterians.  To  put  the  situation  concisely,  about  the 
year  1700  the  American  Colonists  were  divided  into  two 
great  sections,  the  one  Episcopalians  and  Monarchists, 
the  other  Calvinists  and  believers  in  popular  govern- 
ment. From  Boston  to  the  Potomac  Puritan  and  Pres- 
byterian Calvinists  were  in  the  ascendant,  and  from  the 
Potoniac  southward  the  majority  of  the  people  were  of 
opposite  tendencies.  Naturally  between  these  parties 
conflicts  arose,  caused  by  their  fundamental  differences 
in  religion,  in  church  government,  and  in  the  views 
which  they  held  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  Into  a 
lengthy  and  adequate  consideration  of  these  differences 
and  of  the  conflicts  which  they  engendered,  the  limits 
of  space  forbid  that  I  should  enter,  I  shall  content 
myself  with  concise  statement  of  several  particulars, 
each  of  which  is  intimately  connected  as  a  fundamental 
factor  with  the  formation  of  the  American  Republic. 
/  One  of  the  initial  points  of  difference  between  the  Cal- 
vinists and  other  of  the  early  American  settlers  had 
to  do  with  popular  education.  We  to-day  believe  that 
the  education  of  all  citizens  is  fundamental  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Republic.  This  principle,  however,  it  should 
be  imderstood,  is  a  logical  result  of  Calvinistic  thought 
and  practice.  Calvinists,  taught  by  the  Holy  Scriptures 
made  religion  a  personal  matter,  not  between  man  and 
the  Church,  but  between  the  soul  and  God,  and  necessi- 
tated personal  knowledge  on  the  part  of  human  beings 
of  God's  Word  as  the  law  of  faith  and  life.  Education 
.in  religious  truth  became  therefore  a  cardinal  principle 


CALVINISM   IN   AMERICA,  205 

of  the  Calvinists,  and  the  steps  were  easy  and  swift  from 
it  to  secular  and  popular  education.  This  logical  con- 
nection between  Calvinism  and  education  "is  acknowl- 
edged by  our  historian  Bancroft,  who  says  that  Calvin 
was  the  ' '  first  f oimder  of  the  public  school  system. ' '  It 
is  also  shown  by  the  history  of  popular  education.  ^ 
high  authority  states  that  Presbyterian  Scotland  "is  en- 
titled to  the  credit  of  having  first  established  schools  for 
primary  instruction  to  be  supported  at  the  public  ex- 
pense." The  Scotch  system  of  free  education  was 
founded  in  1567,  fifty  years  before  the  American  Calvin- 
ist  colonies  had  been  established.  Reformed  Holland 
followed  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  Scotland,  and  the 
first  settlers  in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States, 
being  themselves  Calvinists,  naturally  proceeded  at  once, 
like  their  European  brethren  of  similar  faith,  to  care  for 
the  interests  of  education.  Harvard,  Yale  and  Prince- 
ton Universities  were  all  founded  by  men  who  believed 
in  the  Westminster  Confession,  and  as  early  as  1647 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  established  public  school 
systems.  In  some  other  colonies,  however,  a  very  differ- 
ent state  of  affairs  was  to  be  found.  An  Episcopal  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  in  1661,  thanked  God  that  there  were 
in  that  region  neither  "free  schools  nor  printing." 
Steadily  year  by  year,  however,  the  belief  in  popular 
education,  nurtured  by  our  Calvinistic  and  Puritan  an- 
cestors, by  men  who  believed  in  the  "Westminster  Con- 
fession, and  in  the  canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  spread 
throughout  the  colonies,  and  to-day  the  right  of  all 
persons  to  become  through  instruction  intelligent  citi- 
zens is  everywhere  recognized  in  this  great  republic.  Is 
education  one  of  the  foundation-stones  of  the  nation? 
Then  honor  to  whom  honor  is  due,  to  the  men  of  the 
Westminster  Confession,  and  to  those  who  with  them  be- 


206  JOHN   CALVIN. 

lieved  in  the  application  of  Calvinistic  principles  to  secu- 
lar education. 

Another  cardinal  principle  of  the  government  of  this 
American  nation  is  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
with  its  resulting  absolute  religious  freedom  for  the  in- 
dividual. This  characteristic  of  the  organization  of  the 
republic  is  also  a  logical  outcome  of  Calvinistic  doctrine. 
Establishments  of  religion  are  found  in  Europe,  even 
in  such  Presbyterian  lands  as  Scotland  and  Holland, 
but  they  are  survivals  from  a  past  age,  and  are  not  a 
rightful  development  from  the  great  Calvinistic  prin- 
ciple, ''that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience."  This 
was  seen  clearly  in  the  American  Colonies  first  by  the 
Dutch  settlers  in  New  York,  who  were  Presbyterians, 
then  by  the  Baptists,  who  equally  with  the  Presbyterians 
are  Calvinists.  The  English-speaking  American  Presby- 
terians quickly  recognized  the  full  force  of  the  principle, 
and  as  early  as  1729,  the  General  Synod  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  declared  that  the  power  to  persecute 
persons  for  their  religion  was  contrary  to  the  Word  of 
God,  and  that  the  Church  should  be  independent  of  the 
State.  This  Scriptural  position  was  antagonized,  how- 
ever, at  the  first  by  the  Congregationalists  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  especially  by  the  Episcopalians  in  all  the 
colonies  where  they  were  in  authority.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, the  principle  of  untrammeled  religious  liberty  won 
its  way  to  recognition  in  New  England,  and  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  it,  there  and  in  other  parts  of  the  country, 
was  hastened  by  the  attempts  made  from  1750  onward  to 
establish  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  colonies.  United 
resistance  to  such  attempts  was  first  organized  in  1766, 
ten  years  prior  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
in  large  part  by  the  General  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,    A  petition  had  been  sent  by  Episcopalians,  in 


CALVINISM   IN   AMERICA.  207 

the  year  just  named,  from  a  convention  held  in  New 
York,  to  the  British  government,  for  the  appointment  of 
Bishops  for  America.  Presbyterians  and  Congregation- 
alists,  Dutch,  German  and  French  Protestants  had  ex- 
perienced the  baneful  power  of  established  Episcopal 
Churches  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  bishops 
whom  their  ancestors  had  suffered  under  were  arrogant 
lords,  temporal  and  spiritual,  over  the  heritage  of  God, 
men  of  an  arbitrary  temper  and  a  merciless,  persecuting 
spirit.  American  Calvinists  could  not  forget  the  awful 
butcheries  of  the  Spanish  tj^rants  in  the  Netherlands, 
the  terrible  devastation  wrought  in  the  valley  of  the 
Rhine,  the  100,000  victims  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew, or  the  18,000  covenanters  who  in  Scotland, 
during  a  few  brief  years,  were  either  massacred  by  dra- 
goons or  executed  by  the  agents  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny. 
The  moment,  therefore,  that  religious  liberty  was  seri- 
ously threatened  by  the  schemes  of  a  Church  which  at 
that  time  was  ultra-loyal  to  the  British  crown,  and 
whose  ministers  with  hardly  an  exception  were  opposed 
to  the  cause  of  the  Colonies,  American  Calvinists  joined 
forces  and  from  New  England,  southward  through  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  valley  of 
Virginia,  to  the  highlands  of  North  and  South  Carolina, 
never  wavered  a  hair's-breadth  from  a  thoroughgoing 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty.  They  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  in  opposition  to  ecclesiastical 
tyranny,  and  their  courage  and  high  intelligence  secured 
for  the  republic,  that  religious  freedom  which  is  now 
a  leading  characteristic  of  our  national  life. 

Having  dealt  with  religious  liberty,  it  is  natural  now 
to  turn  to  the  consideration  of  the  specific  relation  of 
the  American  Presbyterian  Church,  to  the  civil  liberty 
which  was  secured  by  the  independence  of  the  United 


208  JOHN  CALVIN. 

States.  The  opening  of  the-  Revolutionary  struggle 
found  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and  churches  ranged 
solidly  on  the  side  of  the  colonies.  In  1775  the  General 
Synod  issued  a  pastoral  letter,  an  extract  from  which 
indicates  the  spirit  prevailing  in  the  Church,  and  reads, 
' '  Be  careful  to  maintain  the  union  which  at  present  sub- 
sists through  all  the  Colonies.  In  particular,  as  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  now  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  consists 
of  delegates  chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiased  man- 
ner by  the  people,  let  them  not  only  be  treated  with  re- 
spect and  encouraged  in  their  difficult  service,  not  only 
let  your  prayers  be  offered  up  to  God  for  His  direction 
in  their  proceedings,  but  adhere  firmly  to  their  resolu- 
tions, and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are  able  to  bring  out 
the  whole  strength  of  this  vast  country  to  carry  them 
into  execution."  Contemporary  with  this  letter  of  the 
Synod  was  the  famous  Mecklenburgh  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, renouncing  all  allegiance  to  Great  Britain, 
passed  by  a  convention  in  Western  North  Carolina,  com- 
posed of  delegates  nearly  all  Presbyterians,  and  fore- 
stalling the  action  of  the  Colonial  Congress  in  the  same 
line  by  more  than  a  year.  Further,  in  the  sessions  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  the  influence  of  no  delegate 
exceeded  that  wielded  by  the  Rev.  John  Witherspoon, 
president  of  Princeton  College,  the  only  clerical  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — "a  man  Scotch  in  ' 
accent  and  strength  of  conviction,  but  American  at 
heart."  Under  his  leadership  and  that  of  others  the 
American  Presbyterian  Church  never  faltered  in  her 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  independence  of  these 
United  States;  her  ministers  and  members  periled  all 
for  its  support,  being  ready,  with  Witherspoon  to  go 
to  the  block,  if  need  be,  in  defence  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty.    So  resolute  and  aggressive  were  they  in 


CALVINISM   IN   AMERICA.  209 

their  opposition  to  the  English  government  that  the 
Colonial  cause  was  repeatedly  spoken  of  in  Great  Britain 
as  the  Presbyterian  Rebellion.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
in  1783,  the  General  Synod  addressed  a  letter  to  its 
churches,  congratulating  them  on  the  ''general  and  al- 
most universal  attachment  of  the  Presbyterian  body  to 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  mankind."  What 
was  true  of  the  Presbyterian  was  true  of  the  other  Cal- 
vinistic  churches  of  the  land,  of  the  Congregational  and 
also  of  the  German  and  Dutch  Reformed.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  of  the  3,000,000  Americans  at  the  time  of  the 
American  Revolution,  900,000  w^ere  of  Scotch  or  Scotch- 
Irish  origin ;  that  the  German  and  Dutch  Calvinists 
numbered  400,000,  and  the  Puritan  English  600,000. 
If  the  believers  in  the  Westminster  Standards  and  cog- 
nate creeds  had  been  on  the  side  of  George  III  in  1776, 
the  result  would  have  been  other  than  it  was.  But  they 
stood  where  thoroughgoing  Calvinists  must  ever  stand, 
with  the  people  and  against  tyrants,  and  therefore  under 
the  blessing  of  God  the  American  Colonies  became  free 
and  independent  States.  Rightly  then  do  we  acknowl- 
edge the  debt  of  the  Republic  to  the  men  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Standards  for  civil  liberty. 

We  pass  now  to  a  fact  which  in  connection  with  the 
influence  of  our  Church  upon  the  republic  is  quite  as 
important  as  any  yet  dealt  with,  the  position  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  as 
the  sole  representative  upon  this  continent  of  republican 
government  as  now  organized  in  this  nation.  Prom  1706 
to  the  opening  of  the  revolutionarj^  struggle,  the  only 
body  in  existence  which  stood  for  our  present  national 
political  organization  was  the  General  Synod  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  Church.  It  alone  among  eccle- 
siastical and  political  colonial   organizations   exercised 


210  JOHN    CALVIN. 

authority,  derived  from  tlie  colonists  themselves,  over 
bodies  of  Americans  scattered  through  ail  the  colonies 
from  New  England  to  Georgia.  The  colonies  in  the  sev- 
enteenth and  eighteenth  centuries,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, while  all  dependent  upon  Great  Britain  were  in- 
dependent of  each  other.  Such  a  body  as  the  Continental 
Congress  did  not  exist  until  1774.  The  religious  condi- 
tion of  the  country  was  similar  to  the  political.  The 
Congregational  Churches  of  New  England  had  no  con- 
nection with  each  other,  and  had  no  power  apart  from 
the  civil  government.  The  Episcopal  Church  was  with- 
out organization  in  the  Colonies,  was  dependent  for 
support  and  a  ministry  on  the  Established  Church  of 
England,  and  was  filled  with  an  intense  loyalty  to  the 
British  monarchy.  The  Reformed  Dutch  Church  did 
not  become  an  efficient  and  independent  organization 
until  1771,  and  the  German  Reformed  Church  did  not 
attain  to  that  condition  until  1793.  The  Baptist 
Churches  were  separate  organizations,  the  Methodists 
were  practically  unknown,  and  the  Quakers  were  non- 
combatants.  But  in  the  midst  of  these  disunited  eccle- 
siastical units  one  body  of  American  Christians  stood 
out  in  marked  contrast.  The  General  Synod  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  was  not  dependent  for  its  existence 
upon  any  European  Church,  was  efficiently  organized, 
and  had  jurisdiction  over  churches  in  the  majority  of 
the  colonies.  Every  year  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
and  elders  from  the  different  colonies,  came  up  to  the 
cities  of  Philadelphia  or  New  York,  to  consider  not  only 
the  religious  interests  of  their  people,  but  likewise  edu- 
cational and  at  fimes  political  questions.  It  was  impos- 
sible, at  that  date,  it  must  be  remembered,  to  separate 
these  latter  issues  from  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  for 
the   country   was   imder   the   English   government,   the 


CALVINISM   IN   AMERICA.  211 

Episcopal  Church  was  the  only  Church  to  which  that 
government  wa^  favorable,  and  Christians  of  other  be- 
liefs were  compelled  to  act  vigorously  and  unitedly  in 
the  maintenance  of  both  their  religious  and  secular  in- 
terests. And  the  Presbyterian  Church  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  liberty,  intensely  loyal  to  its  convictions  of 
truth,  and  gathering  every  year  in  its  General  Synod, 
became  through  that  body  a  bond  of  union  and  cor- 
respondence between  large  elements  in  the  population  of 
the  divided  colonies.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  under  its 
fostering  influence  the  sentiments  of  true  liberty,  as 
well  as  the  tenets  of  a  sound  gospel,  were  preached 
throughout  the  territory  from  Long  Island  to  South 
Carolina,  and  that  above  all  a  feeling  of  unity  between 
the  Colonies  began  slowly  but  surely  to  assert  itself. 
Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid,  in  connection  with 
the  origin  of  the  Nation,  upon  the  influence  of  that  eccle- 
siastical republic,  which  from  1706  to  1774  was  the  only 
representative  on  this  continent  of  fully  developed  fed- 
eral republican  institutions.  The  United  States  of 
America  owes  much  to  that  oldest  of  American  Repub- 
lics, the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  influence  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  exer- 
cised for  the  security  of  unity  between  the  Colonies  was 
zealously  employed,  at  the  close  of  the  war  for  inde- 
pendence, to  bring  them  into  a  closer  union.  The  main 
hindrance  to  the  formation  of  the  Federal  Union,  as  it 
now  exists,  lay  in  the  reluctance  of  many  of  the  States 
to  yield  to  a  general  government  any  of  the  powers 
which  they  possessed.  The  federal  party  in  its  advocacy 
of  closer  union  had  no  more  earnest  and  eloquent  sup- 
porters that  John  "Witherspoon,  Elias  Boudinot  and  other 
Presbyterian  members  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
Sanderson,  in  his  lives  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 


212  JOHN  auviN. 

of  Independence,  states  that  "Witherspoon  strongly 
combated  the  opinion  expressed  in  Congress  that  a  last- 
ing confederation  among  the  States  was  impracticable, 
and  he  warmly  maintained  the  absolute  necessity  of 
imion  to  impart  vigor  and  success  to  the  measures  of 
government."  In  this  he  was  aided  by  many  who  had 
come  to  the  views  which  he,  as  a  Presbyterian,  had  al- 
ways maintained.  Those  who  differed  with  Witherspoon 
at  the  first  came  at  last  to  his  position.  Slowly  but 
surely  ideas  of  government,  in  harmony  with  those  of  the 
Westminster  Standards,  were  accepted  as  formative 
principles  for  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  by  many  persons  not  connected  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Among  these  were  the  great  leaders  in 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  James  Madison,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Princeton,  who  sat  as  a  student .  imder  Wither- 
spoon; Alexander  Hamilton,  of  Scotch  parentage,  and 
whose  familiarity  with  Presbyterian  government  is  fully 
attested;  and  above  all  George  Washington,  who  though 
an  Episcopalian,  had  so  great  a  regard  for  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  its  services  to  the  country,  that  he  not 
only  partook  "of  holy  communion  with  its  members,  but 
gave  public  expression  to  his  high  esteem.  Indeed,  at 
one  time  so  marked  was  the  respect  for  our  Church  dur- 
ing Revolutionary  days,  that  it  was  feared  by  Christians 
of  other  denominations  that  it  might  become  in  America 
what  it  was  in  Scotland,  the  Established  Church,  and 
so  widespread  was  the  feeling  of  alarm,  that  the  General 
Synod  felt  compelled  to  pass  a  deliverance  setting  forth 
its  views  in  relation  to  religious  freedom.  Great,  how- 
ever, as  was  the  influence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
those  trying  times,  its  ministers  and  members  were  al- 
ways true  to  their  own  principles,  and  in  every  possible 
manner  sought  to  maintain  and  further  them  in  their 


CALVINISM   IN  AMERICA.  213 

application  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and 
especially  in  connection  with  the  union  of  the  Colonies 
whose  independence  had  been  achieved.     Presbyterians 
both  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New  had  been  accustomed 
to  representative  government,  to  the  subordination  of 
the  parts  to  the  whole,  and  to  the  rule  of  majorities 
for  more   than   two   centuries   prior   to   the   American 
Revolution.     They  knew  the  value  of  unity  to  popular 
government,  and  they  labored  earnestly  and  persistently 
until  their  governmental  principles  were  all  accepted  by 
the  American  people,  and  the  divided  Colonies  became 
the  United  States  of  America.    It  is  not  that  the  claim  is 
made,  that  either  the  principles  of  the  Calvinistic  creed 
or  of  the  Presbyterian  government,  were  the  sole  source 
from  which  sprang  the  government  of  this  great  Re- 
public of  which  we  to-day  are  citizens,  but  it  is  asserted 
that  mightiest  among  the  forces  which  made  the  Colonies 
a  nation  were  the  governmental  principles  found  in  the 
Westminster    Standards,    and    that    the    Presbyterian 
Church  taught,  practiced,  and  maintained  in  fulness,  first 
in   this  land  that  form   of  government  in   accordance 
with  which  the  Republic  has  been  organized.    Our  oM^n 
historian  Bancroft  says,  ''the  Revolution  of  1776,  so  far 
as  it  was  affected  by  religion,  was  a  Presbyterian  meas- 
ure.    It  was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  principles 
which  the  Presbyterianism  of  the  Old  World  planted  in 
her  sons,  the  English  Puritans,  the  Scotch  Covenanters, 
the  French  Huguenots,  the  Dutch  Calvinists,  and  the 
Presbyterians  of  Ulster."    What  the  historian  states  as 
true  of  the  war  for  independence  is  true  of  the  organized 
government  of  the  Republic.     The  elements  of  popular 
government  were,  without  question,  foimd  in  many  of 
the  Colonies,  especially  in  New  England,  but  the  federal 
principle,  whose  acknowledgment  resulted  in  the  Ameri- 


214  JOHN   CALVIN. 

can  nation,  through  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
1788,  was  found  previous  to  that  year  in  full  operation 
upon  this  Continent,  only  in  the  American  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  had  in  it  its  most  practical  and  successful 
advocate.  Chief  among  the  blessings  which  Presbyteri- 
ans and  Reformed  aided  in  bestowing  upon  this  country 
was  and  is  the  Federal  Union. 

Such  is  the  relation  of  Calvinism  to  our  national  life, 
such  is  the  answer  which  as  Presbyterians  and  Reformed 
we  give  to  the  question,  what  have  these  principles  done 
for  the  Republic?  To-day,  as  we  look  over  our  broad 
national  domains,  as  we  see  the  80,000,000  of  our  in- 
habitants in  the  enjoyment  of  education,  of  religious 
freedom,  of  civil  liberty,  of  the  blessings  which  the  Fed- 
eral Union  has  secured  to  the  nation,  we  can  say,  this 
hath  Calvinism  wrought !  This,  too,  is  our  answer  to 
the  assertion  made  by  some  ill-informed  persons,  in 
whose  minds  prejudice  has  usurped  the  throne  of  sound 
reason,  the  assertion  that  Calvinism  is  dead!  Dead!  Cal- 
vinism dead!  Its  fundainental  principles  are  main- 
tained to-day  in  this  land  not  only  by  the  Presbyterian 
and  the  Reformed  Churches,  but  also  by  Baptists,  Con- 
gregationalists,  and  many  Episcopalians.  The  majority 
of  American  Protestants  are  Calvinists.  Calvinism 
dead !  It  will  cease  to  be  both  life  and  power  only  when 
popular  education  shall  give  place  to  popular  ignorance, 
when  civil  and  religious  liberty  shall  vanish, when  the  Re- 
public shall  be  shattered  into  separate  and  warring  na- 
tionalities, and  when  the  very  life  shall  have  perished 
from  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people.  But  never  shall  such  changes  be.  Oh,  America, 
America!  The  sovereign  hand  of  the  Almighty  rocked 
thy  cradle,  the  eternal  purpose  sustained  and  nurtured 
thy  founders,  and  we  believe  that  the  unchangeable  di- 


CALVINISM   IN   AMERICA.  215 

vine  decree  hath  ordained  thee  to  be  an  indestructible 
union  of  indestructible  States,  the  leader  of  the  hopes 
of  mankind,  the  majorit}-  of  thy  citizen  servants  of  God 
and  lovers  of  humanity,  until  the  hour  when  God  shall  in 
truth  dwell  with  men,  and  all  mankind  shall  be  His 
people. 


CHAPTERXXXI. 

RECENT  STATISTICS 

of  the  Eeformed  Churches  throughout  the  world  holding 
the  Presbyterial  System. 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Communicants 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  . ,  1,300,329 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S., 268,733 

The  United  Presb.  Church  of  N.  A., 153,956 

The  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America,  117,139 

Christian  Reformed  Church  in  N.  A., 25,175^ 

The    Reformed    (German)     Church    in    the 

United  States,   289,328 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Synod,   . . .  9,404 

The  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  South,  13,368 
Reformed    .Presbyterian     Church,     General 

Synod,   3,500 

The  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  or  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., 14,500 

Other  churches,  1,000 

Total,  2,196,432 

IN    CANADA. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada, 241,511 

Church  of  Scotland  in  Canada,  10,000 

IN  ENGLAND  AND  WALES. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  England,   ....  85,774 

The  Church  of  Scotland  in  England,  4,000 

Calvinistic  Methodist  or  Presbyterian  Church 

of  Wales, 185,000 

216 


IN  IRELAND.  217 

The  Presbyterian  Churcli  in  Ireland, 106,516 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ire- 
land,    4,000 

Other  churches,  2,000 

IN  SCOTLAND. 

The  Church  of  Scotland, 698,56(; 

The  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,   505,774 

The  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 10,000 

Other  churches,   10,000 

-   EUROPE. 

Bohemia  and  Moravia,    250,000 

France,    • 1,000,000 

Germany, 3,000,000 

Holland,    2,500,000 

Hungary, 3.000,000 

Italy,    100,000 

Switzerland,    1,700,000 

Other  coimtries,    400,000 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Africa, 400,000 

Asia, 400,000 

Australasia,    700,000 

South  America,   80,000 

The  above  tables  show  the  number  of  commimicants 
in  America  and  Great  Britain,  and  the  number  of  ad- 
herents in  other  countries: — 

SABBATH-SCHOOL     STATISTICS    OF    REFORMED    AND    PRESBY- 
TERIAN CHURCHES  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES,   1908. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., ...  1,164,790 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S., 224.336 


218  JOHN   CALVIN. 

Welsh  Calvin istic  Methodist  or  Presbyterian 

Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., 15,500 

United     Presbyterian     Church      of     North 

America,    152,294 

Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  South,  .  .  .  10,060 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Synod,  ....  9,127 

Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  Gen.  Synod,  3,500 

Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  in  America,  ....  117,633 

Christian  Reformed  Church  in  N.  A.,   23,500 

Reformed   (German)    Church  in  the  United 

States,    268,079 


Total,  *1,977,632 


*About  one-tenth  of  the  above  total  is  composed  of  officers  and  teachers. 


Date  Due 


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